I have been keeping notes about things I want to write about. This is a bad idea. I stay awake at night and think up complete stories to write, but by morning they are mostly broken sentences, making no sense at all. I have a stack of napkins and scrap paper with my rambling thoughts written on them.
I think kids age like dogs. One adult (human) year equals 7 kid (dog) years. That would explain why my son is heading to college and I am only 27 1/2.
In the last week, I have received two emails from friends requesting that I vote for their friend so that the friend can win their own talk show. Interesting. I hadn't heard about that contest. I have never really thought about having my own talk show on TV. I have thought about being on a radio morning show. There was a really good one in Denver that I listened to all the time and loved. I could do that. But, on TV? Who would watch? But, the more I thought about it, the more I wished I had heard about this contest. I would have tried for it. I still don't know who would watch, but I have so many ideas.
My husband and I just took our oldest to freshman orientation (college). By the way...this is a completely new topic...has nothing to do with previous paragraphs...A few things struck me. #1) My kids will never survive a road trip with just their Dad. The reason? He NEVER wants to stop. Not for food. Not for bathroom breaks. Not for outlet malls. NEVER. He will stop for gas. If you need to stretch, use the bathroom or grab a snack, you have the amount of time it takes to pump 17 gallons of gas. That's it. If you're lucky. I think he times his stops for when we are napping so that he doesn't risk you taking longer in the bathroom. Or getting a drink. If you get a drink, you'll need to use a bathroom. You'll need to wait approximately 283 miles until the next gas stop.
The other thing that struck me (#2) on this trip was this; kids suck up a lot of your time each day. I don't know why this surprised me so much, but it did. I don't feel like I spend my whole day doing things for them, but I must spend more time than I thought. My husband and I had 2 nights and 3 days of no children. It was the first time we had that much childless time in 16 years. One morning we woke up, showered, had breakfast, then went for a hike to the top of a waterfall. It was a half mile, then 604 steps up, then one mile down. Then we walked around the gift shop and the ranger station. It was 11:30am when we got back to the car! I couldn't believe it. Then we went out to lunch and walked an entire, large, outlet mall. We got back to our hotel at 3pm. This was shocking to me. That seems like lots of stops in a day when you have 4 kids following you. I had so much free time that I read 17 magazines over the course of the 3 days and 2 nights. Some were dated 2007. That's the contrast...with kids,it takes me 3 years to read a single magazine. No kids, 17 magazines in 48 hours. I also took 2 showers a day. Two uninterrupted, hot, long showers a day. It was so nice. It helped pass the time. My life is pretty unexciting isn't it? Magazines and showers. Oh, Diet Coke too.
So, onto my last ramble for the evening...my parents were in town for my son's graduation. We were having a discussion about families we know. We talked about Aunts, Uncles, cousins and family friends that we have known for years and years (and years). We talked about the things our families have in common, and the way we differ. (NOTE: I mean no disrespect to anyone whom we were talking about. I truly believe that the world is more interesting BECAUSE people differ from each other. But, I DO like to talk about the hows and whys people are different.)
So anyway, I say to my Dad how thankful I am to have a normal family. That we have had normal experiences and do normal things. Now, I know that all (or most) people think their families are normal. I mean, if you live it, you are used to it and you think that is normal. Until someone tells you it's not...it's all a matter of opinion. Which made me think about my family. My parents have been married for 46 years. To me this is normal. They had three kids. To me this is normal. My brothers and I are all married, (and on our first marriages still). To me this is normal (however, I see we might be considered dull).
I realize that my parents, brothers and I can't ALL be normal...so I start to think more carefully. I have been married for 20 years and have four kids. I am a stay at home Mom. My oldest brother has no kids, and the younger one has one child. Both their wives work (out of the home).Thus, I have deemed myself NOT NORMAL. I am an overbreeder. My oldest brother just graduated with his Master's degree. My younger brother and I don't even have a bachelor's degree. Thus, I have deemed him, NOT NORMAL. He is an overachiever. This leaves my youngest brother. Apparently he is normal. I mean, we can't ALL be abnormal, can we? Nah. The funny thing is...if you know my youngest brother....well, you would see the humor...
I'm pretty sure that out of all the families we discussed, my family was the most normal. Uh-huh, yep, that's right. We are the most normal. The Overbreeder, the Overachiver and the Normal One. If any of you need a closer look at "normal", I'm thinking of booking my "normal" family on one of the first episodes of my TV talk show. But, don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen...that definitely isn't normal.
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