more + more delights {10}

Fridays are for Ross-colored glasses here. A lens of joy…what delights me this week…even if and when and though there’s plenty of woe in the world to be had.

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A simple one this week:

I like my kids.

I’ve always loved them.

I don’t like everything they do all the time.

Or don’t do, as the case may be.

A few of their mistakes have nearly done me in. (I thought of three before I even finished that sentence.)

But it struck me [again] this week, as Troy left town [again], how much I like them.

I was remembering when his work travel amped up. I’m not sure what year, but we had three little kids. (Elsa was just out of diapers, I think? So maybe they were 2-,6-, and 10-‘ish) It was an exciting change for him, a role he was well-suited for — and very much deserved. When he asked me about the travel…how I felt… I said Absolutely, go for it. (Then I took a shower and cried.) (I was tired. And a little lost, which happens.)

It worked out fine. There were ups and downs, like with most decisions. Right? But we’re a good team. We figured it out. And a few years later, the work travel ebbed.

Then, as with everything else during the pandemic, it stopped altogether! Before starting up again…

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When he left town on Tuesday — I love you. Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly — it dawned on me that (barring a few teen-agey things), it’s ‘gone smoothly’ for a while now.

There are the basics, of course. (I’m not giving baths anymore. Everyone’s feeding themselves. No one wets the bed or spills on the floor at each meal.) We’re still very much parenting –certainly. But at 12 and 16 and a daughter who’s almost 20 and lives across the country) — well, it’s a whole different ballgame. This week, the three of us sat at the table for a half-hour after dinner, laughing so hard. Then I mentioned something (none of us remembers what, now) — and Lincoln said, That unlocks a whole room of nostalgia! And another half-hour, we sat.

When Elsa and I were home alone last night, we went our own pace. (We revel in that!) She commandeered my practice yarn and worked up some granny squares. I caught up on my temperature rows. We took a dinner break, chatted, and went back to it. Audrey sent pictures of the dinner she’d made with her boyfriend. Linc was in Buffalo watching a game and he did what I ask him to do! (Which is answer if I call or text; let me know when he leaves/goes somewhere else/plans change.)

They’re growing into their perfectly imperfect…or imperfectly perfect…selves. (Aren’t we all? Always?) Becoming their own neat people who I like to be around (most of the time). They’re kind (most of the time). Unique. And funny, all three. They stopped fighting, somewhere along the way. (Bonus.)

When thinking about delights this week? This one’s way up there.

(Remind me to reread this when one of those teen-agey things happens again.) (Because it will.) (Not before their dad gets home, hopefully.)

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What are you delighting in today?

Wishing you happy weekending to you. I’ll see you with a One Word check-in on Monday. ♥