Letting Go

 As part of my kids' preparation for their b'nai mitzvah ceremony, they had to go to a few Torah study questions.  I have attended the sessions with them and really have liked those discussions.  The rabbis from my congregation have done a really good job at reading the text, understanding that what was written thousands of years ago needs to be interpreted through a modern lens, and help us apply a lesson to our every day lives.

The most recent section of the Torah talked about the Sabbath and why we rest.  There was a discussion about why G-d, who can do anything and is all powerful, would need to take a day of rest.  Lots of people had a lot of theories and one in particular stuck with me.

The rabbi who was teaching that day talked about how writers create plays and stories, artists create songs, paintings, and sculptures, and everyone (at some point) writes reports, essays, speeches, and even emails.  We could keep working on those things forever since there can always be a way to add one more note, brush stroke, or graph.  But if we are constantly working on our projects, never stepping back from it, we never share our work with the world and let it come to life.

The rabbi took that concept one step further and applied it to our kids.  We can parent our kids forever.  We can "work" on them and continue to try to mold them into what we want but will we every feel like our work is done?  I doubt it.  At some point we have to let go and allow what we have created to enter the world so that others can get joy from them.  

It's hard as a parent to let go.  But it's also the way to see that all the hard work that we do as parents has paid off.  My kids are on the verge of adulthood and it's both scary to let them go and exciting to see them go.  Of course I want them to experience the world, but maybe a better thought is that it would be a shame if the world didn't experience them.  

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I Feel Like My Old Self --- Only Older

 As I look at my calendar these days I realize how full it is.  It's full partly because of the kids.  Between the two of them in one week they have three music lessons, three music rehearsals, chess club, computer coding, Torah tutoring, Hebrew school, and three clubs.  In addition to that we have extra activities like attending a friend's bat mitzvah, hanging out with a friend, going to the library, and squeezing in family time.  

But that's not the only reason I'm busy.

When I look at my schedule I have work which I have been doing for a while now.  The surprising part, though, is when I see that I've scheduled a massage for myself, I'm facilitating a parent group, I'm taking a 10 week French class, I'm going to a cupcake decorating class next month, I arranged a dinner with four couples, and this weekend we're heading to Providence, RI to surprise the kids with a magic show with a magician we have watched on TV.  I'm back to running on the treadmill.  I've also thought about auditioning for a play but realized that would just be too much.

I'm actually doing things for me now.  Years ago I remember talking with my mom complaining that I had no life.  She told me that the kids are only young for a short time and they wouldn't need me forever.  I doubted it at that time.  A decade is a long time but somehow time does pass and 10 years did actually happen.  My body definitely feels different.  My energy isn't what it was.  Sometimes I need to remember I'm not 25 anymore and I can't run on no sleep and Cheetos for a week.  But I'm doing things for me.  I'm feeling like my old life of organizing outings, seeing friends, and not letting life pass me by is back.  It feels odd at times to not have to think about the kids.  It's weird to focus on me again and in some ways it's uncomfortable.  But it's also a reminder that Derek and I have raised the kids to be independent, to explore the world, and to make their own way in life.   

Walking the Dog

I have tweens.  And the tween stage, like any other stage of parenthood, has its own unique set of thrills and challenges.  This is the time of life when my kids don't crave having me around.  They aren't trying to get me to play games with them every day and there aren't many "Hey Dad, watch what I can do" moments.  Finding family time gets harder and harder as my kids enter the world in different ways.

Most of the time loosening the cord is hard.  I don't know some of my kids' friends and I know even less about the parents.  Play dates are no longer play dates where the parents hang out and talk.  Now the kids coordinate hang outs on their phones (my "poor" kids only have a flip phone but at least they can text) and then just tell me who they are meeting and when.  

A few months ago the cord got looser when my kid got the opportunity to be a dog walker.  A neighbor was looking for someone to walk his dog from time to time and my kid was excited to A) spend time with a dog and B) earn some money.

I worried about my kid messing up but I also am learning I need to let my kid mess up.  (And so far they have not messed up and everything is going well.)  They needed a little bit of help learning how to navigate scheduling, asking for payment, etc. but it's exciting to see them take on this responsibility.

A couple days ago my kid asked if I wanted to walk the dog with them.  To be honest, I didn't.  I'm lazy in my old age.  At 4:00 p.m. it starts to get dark and cold.  So if I have the option of curling up under a blanket and watching TV or walking a dog in the cold you know which one I'll pick.  But I went with my kid of course.  Parents aren't always asked to tag along with their kids.  I've read enough parenting books to know that when your kid opens that door or extends an invitation you can't say no.  So off we went to the neighbor's house to get the dog for a 30 minute walk.

The part I want to remember is that is was fun.  It was nice to get to play with a dog, get in some exercise, and chat with my kid.  I know that my kid will continue to need me less and less while I want to be needed more and more.  That's just how this job works.  Parenthood is a job that comes with no pay, long hours, stress that causes gray hairs, etc.  But once in a while you get a great performance review from the other employees that makes you want to keep showing up and trying your best.

j

Reality

This morning has been hard.  It has been one year since the attack happened in Israel and war is still raging in the Middle East.  Hostages are still being held.  Innocent people are still dying on both sides. There is no end in sight.

Yesterday my kids went to Hebrew school and the school had a conversation about the war.  It makes me sad to think about what my kids have to learn as they grow up.  I know that we can't pretend the world is fine and everyone always gets along.  But it can be hard to think that my kids' brains have to process so much: the war in Ukraine, the war in Israel, the vitriol from the right against transgender people, George Floyd and racism, COVID/mask wars, xenophobia and the rhetoric against immigrants, etc.  

I wonder if, when my kids are 25 or 30 years old, if I'll still feel the need to protect my kids from the cruelty happening in this world.  I wonder if my parents feel that way about me.  Stress and adversity are parts of life.  We all have to experience them in order to grow and mature and cope with life's ups and downs.  Still, it's hard to not be able to fix -- or even explain -- the cruelty in this world as my kids enter it.

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I've been sitting here trying to think how to wrap up this entry and I don't really have a nice silver lining.  It is what it is.  Sometimes I just have to be OK not being OK for a little while.  

Love You More

 I don't really remember when it started...or how.  

I think it was my mother-in-law who started telling my kids "Love you more!!!" and they would reply back "No, I love you more!!!"  They would go back and forth saying that phrase over and over trying to prove who loves who more.  Of course the kids would always win.  

Over the years my parents have picked up on the game.  The kids play it with all four of the grandparents yelling "Love you more" before hanging up the FaceTime call.  We say it to each other as we run out the door, when going to bed, and when getting dropped off for school.  We write it in Mother's and Father's Day cards and birthday cards, say it in Spanish and ASL, and I even had it etched onto a keychain as a gift for everyone in the family.  

My kids are 11 now and will be 12 soon.  The game still usually happens when we are at home and it's just the four of us.  In the mornings, however, when their friends come over before heading off to school, they don't yell it as they walk out the door.  Maybe if one of my kids is straggling behind the group I'll hear it quietly or see the ASL sign for it, but I get how that's not something that middle school kids will do in front of their peers.  

It's the days when they get out of the car and or walk away in the middle of a FaceTime call without saying it that I notice.  These kids are growing up and growing up means change.  I can choose to focus on all I'm losing, but I try to remember that with maturity and growth I get to love them a different way.  Maybe they don't grab my hand as we walk down the street, make Play-doh pizza for me or say "love you more" all the time, but I get to support them as they become independent and explore the world on their own.  Helping them spread their wings and fly is showing love.  

Years from now, when they are grown up and perhaps when they have kids of their own, they'll know that all the things that Derek and I (and their extended family) did for them shows them that the goal isn't to love more -- the goal is to just love with all you can.

Halloween

Wow...once again it has been a long time since I posted.  I do think about this blog quite a bit.  In the mornings while I'm getting the kids ready for school or after a particularly deep or funny conversation I think to myself "I need to write about that" and then never do.  I get busy with a million other things.  Yesterday alone I went to Walmart and Costco, cleaned the house (ugh...I never got to raking leaves), dealt with invoices, cooked dinner, helped with homework, sent emails booking bass and trombone lessons, emailed the Hebrew school, had a conversation about the war in Israel with the kids, ordered holiday gifts, and more.  

It.  Just.  Doesn't.  Stop.

The other thing I did was I drove to a fancy donut shop to get Halloween donuts.  I love donuts.  And I love Halloween.  I got so excited when the kids were little and they started to understand the concept of Halloween.  I had fun when they started to pick out their costumes, talk about their favorite candies, and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and other Halloween specials.  Since moving to our home we have gone trick or treating with the same neighbors every year and it has been wonderful to watch the kids get more independent.  Our street is mobbed on the holiday and we get maybe 150-200 kids coming to our house.  It's so much fun.  Many neighbors put up elaborate decorations and we have turned our garage into a haunted house the last two years complete with boxes you can put you hand in to touch eyeballs, brains, spiders legs, witches teeth, skin and more.

So this year, when I asked my kids what they planned to do for Halloween and they shrugged and didn't seem excited, my world collapsed.

They're only 11 and a half and they should be out grabbing as much candy as they can.  One kid planned to trick or treat with a couple friends and will just put on the hamster pajamas they use for sleeping.  The other said he planned to watch a movie with a friend.  "Don't you want any candy this year?" I asked.  "I guess I can throw on my costume from last year and hit a few houses before the movie" was the reply.

The disappointment isn't so much about the fact that I won't get to secretly steal some Baby Ruths and Reese's Pieces -- although if I'm being honest that is part of the disappointment.  The disappointment comes from the fact that childhood is ending.  The days of tickle fights and silly voices and piggy back rides are ending.  As one friend just said, "You never know when something will be your last."  I knew I didn't have many years left to go out on Halloween with my kids, but I didn't realize this year would be so different than the last one.

This time is coming with a lot of good and bad.  I love that I went back to work full time as a freelance interpreter.  My kids are old enough for me to do that now.  I miss that they used to have simple problems I could solve with a lollipop and a hug.  I love that I can have complex conversations about the world with them.  It can be hard that they experience the world without me when they go into town with their friends for lunch.  

With every letting go I still think back to an article I read many years ago.  The article said that allowing our kids to be independent is hard, but the alternative of them depending on us forever is never what we dream of for our kids.  So although I feel like I'm losing something, I'm actually gaining something.  I get to watch my kids become independent, navigate the world, and gain confidence in themselves.  If I feel sad about it, at least I bought a giant bag of chocolate to hand out and can steal a few pieces.

Eighty-Nine Dollars

Eighty-nine dollars is a lot of money to some people.  To other people, it doesn't mean much.  For me, it's somewhere in the middle.  I'm at a point in my life where I don't have to count how much I'm spending at the grocery store when I put things in my cart (I'm having flashbacks to trying to shop at Whole Foods years ago when I couldn't go over $20) but I'm also not at the point where I can spend $100 on a dinner and not get agita.

About six weeks ago I had a muscle in my back tense up and it HURT!  I'm not talking the kind of "I slept wrong" or "I pulled a muscle and it'll be OK in a few days" hurt.  I'm talking the "I am popping Advil like I own stock in it and I've been cuddling with my heating pad more than my husband" kind of hurt.  

I decided to go get a massage.  I was hoping that would help.  So I forked over $119 (plus tip!) to see if it would help.

It did...but it didn't.  I knew that it was a good decision to go, but the massage therapist told me the muscle was so tight he couldn't completely break it up.  I was still in pain.  

Two weeks later I went back and that's when I made a decision for myself.  I signed up for the monthly membership.  I get one massage a month for $89 (plus tip!).  It's money I could save for my kids' college.  It's money that I might use to send my kids to camp.  It's money that I could use to get my kids new shoes, or clothes, or piano lessons, or a birthday party, or toys, or...

Wait.

Maybe I could spend some money on myself???  Maybe I could take one hour a month to do something for me???  Maybe I could do something to relax and stay healthy???

It's funny how parenthood changes you.  When I was young and single I could do whatever I wanted for me.  I could spend my money any way I wanted because it only impacted me.  When I met Derek we both earned enough money that we could, for the most part, spend money any way we wanted.  The spending only impacted us but we were able to afford it.  Once Derek and I had kids, my earnings went down significantly and our spending went up.  My relationship with money changed.  For years my idea of splurging was buying lunch at Chipotle for 8 bucks but I definitely wouldn't buy a drink because who had two dollars for a soda?!?!?  With kids who are now more independent and my ability to work from home, I'm earning money again.  And I decided that I can take $89 a month for me.

It seems like a little thing, but it's not.  As a parent, we give up everything for our children.  We give up time, sleep, vacations, etc.  Slowly but surely we have to learn to take our lives back.  My kids are living their best lives - summer camp, chess club, music lessons, play dates, movies on demand, etc.  Maybe it's time I started to live my best life again as well.  If it's $89 to achieve that, I think it's worth it.