Empty Nest

This time of year is all about graduations and children heading off to college because they are "all grown up." Those of us who have already lived through this magical time in our lives realize now how far from being grown up those kids actually are, but as we all know you couldn't make them believe it for anything in the world. When I think back on my decidedly well-behaved college days, I remember the friends that I had who took full advantage of ALL that college life had to offer and wonder how they are still alive. And not in prison. I have heard that God protects fools and little children, and I have been and been friends with both! My husband has informed me that there was a time in his life (before we met) that he felt the need to drink all the beer there was. Then, like most people we know, he outgrew it. I never went through that particular phase in my life, and he continually reminds me that perhaps that's what's wrong with me today...an alcohol deficiency. Maybe it's some sort of developmental phase that I missed, you know, like those kids who just started walking but never crawled. That would explain a lot.
Thanks to the magic of Facebook, I communicate with all these women who are about to become "empty nesters." They are all so sad, talking about how bittersweet it is to have children leaving home and wondering just what they will do with their time. COME TO MY HOUSE. That's what you can do! Then you can remind yourself how happy you are that your children are not this age anymore.
A few days ago, while the kids were swimming, one of them announced that she had to go to the bathroom. The people who lived here before us were smart enough to build a pool house with an easily accessible bathroom. No big deal, right? Wrong! Apparently putting back on a wet bathing suit when you are five is the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest. Not gonna happen without some adult supervision. So as I was wrestling my second child of the hour back into a wet swimsuit, I started thinking. My youngest child is almost ready to potty train. What will it be like when all of my children can go to the bathroom with no help at all from me? No pants to button or bathing suits to pull up. No walking them to the public restroom in a restaurant. I can't begin to imagine how much extra time I'll have on my hands. Added up, I spend hours every day changing diapers and addressing the older girls' bathroom concerns. I think I'll have a free-from-the-potty-party! I'll invite all my mom friends whose children have also reached this magical age, and we'll lie around and marvel at how much extra time we have. Then we'll take turns using the restroom in peace with the door locked, because surely they're going to leave us alone by then, right? Hey, a girl's gotta have dreams.
Personally, I've already got a list of stuff I want to do when these kids are grown that I'll never possibly accomplish before I die. I can remember my mother saying she couldn't wait to get to the nursing home so she could read all the books she wanted to, but never found the time. I'm sincerely hoping that my old a-- can still throw a leg over a barrel horse when my kids are grown! And I'm going to read, and cross stitch, and do puzzles, and all the other stuff I used to enjoy that my kids refuse to allow these days.
Not that I'm in a hurry for them to grow up and leave. I'm just saying that I won't be bored. I'm also a little worried that a couple of them may not leave. I have one who tells me every day that she just wants to stay here and help take care of the baby. I've tried explaining that the baby will be growing up, too, and that she won't need to be taken care of forever, but older sister is not convinced. Oh well, at least they like us. For now.