Timely articles

You know the saying  about how once you have a child, your heart is walking around outside your body?  Well when two of those hearts are driving, it takes parenting to a whole new level.  One of my favorite bloggers ever, Elizabeth Foss, said it best in this article right here.   I spend so much time waiting for those texts that tell me that they have safely arrived at their destination.  I frequently hear sirens 5 minutes after a kid pulls out of the driveway, I constantly wonder how all other parents before me (and before "I'm here" texts) have even survived.  I talk to St Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) every day.  I do spend a lot of time in gratitude too, but there's definitely room for more.  I'm definitely going to work on that in November.

And speaking of working, here's another good article about the work of the default parent.  This one made me LOL a lot, and even brought tears to my eyes because it is so true.  For some reason this default job seems even bigger now with bigger kids, with their own cars, own jobs, own plans, and own lives.  When I carried them inside my body, fed them with my body, slept with them pressed up against my body, and was literally never more than 10 feet away from them for days (weeks, months) at a time it was physically tiring, no doubt.  But in those days there was a lot less to keep track of.  Now the constant who is where when stuff, makes my head spin.  Make no mistake, Mike is an awesome husband and father, and is clearly the default (read only) earner, lawn mower, and manager of those rental houses that I didn't want to buy to begin with, but all the other default stuff goes to me.  It is not just with regard to Mike either, the kids are also constantly asking who is doing what when and I am the one who is expected to know.  Sometimes I still have to remind them of their own commitments not to mention everyone else's. 

Thank you to these two great writer for writing what I am living. 



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