Two more days until my eldest becomes a Senior in high school. My next will be a Sophomore who will have a driver's license. My twins are heading into 7th grade and a new school. And now my baby inches into his last 2 years of elementary school.
The emotions are all over the place this week. I cry at the drop of a hat. (Tomorrow is continuation...Just know I'll be a wreck!)
Today, however, is silent. It's my last workday without kids until August (I have the blessing of working from home.) From now one it'll take all my discipline to work around them. Luckily, I love my job, so it doesn't really seem like work--but it is and it's going to have to get done.
I keep telling myself, in the silence of my house, get your To Do list caught up. Finish your emails. Get a huge jump on your next manuscript. You're not going to have time like this after the next two days. In two more days you're going to have to schedule in your work, you're going to have to be even more focused with all these distractions around you. You need to get busy.
Today it's just not happening. I'm soaking in the fact that my house is in order. The laundry will be done--it has to get there. The window is open and there is no rain. A friend came over this morning and I love to chat with her. I often work from my treadmill or at 4am. Why should it be different just because the kids are home? I'm guessing I'll be more productive during those hours--I know I will be.
Two more days, I promise myself, I won't let the papers on my desk dictate the time I have to spend with these kiddos. I promise to let them have some freedom this summer and to try new things. I promise to not care if the house is in order so much. I promise to build a million memories.
Two more days and the house will be noisy for the next two and a half months.
Two more days and I'll really appreciate this silence I'm working in. (Or avoiding working in.)
I promise to embrace these next two days and all the days that come after. Because in a few years all I'll have left are the silent days in which to get my work done. The boys will be gone trying to wrap their heads around working and children, but they'll have lots and lots of memories to go on with because I promised to make the most of their summers...even while I worked from home.