The kids are away, the parents will play…..well, sort of.  While the kids are with their Grandmother for two weeks, we are at home working and getting to all those silly little niggly jobs around the house that never seem to get done in the daily chaos of raising a family.  Romantic and exciting jobs, like snaking the tub drain, painting the stairs, and tidying up the never-ending piles of randomness that accumulate overnight.

The kids, meanwhile are living their best life.  They are exploring multiple beaches, gathering pounds of sand in their shoes and pockets.  They are panning for gold, and exploring caves.  They are learning about the fishing history of the East Coast, and discovering one of the last cable ferries around.   They are fishing for mackerel off of the dock.  They are having a fantastic trip.

I put my heart in my throat when I saw them off at the airport, but it was an important step:  the two of them learning to travel together, without killing each other, and learning to have each others’ backs. ( A lesson that will take them through their later years, and hopefully teach them that they are each others’ first friends.)  And the kids shined.  They successfully navigated their way across our beautiful country into the arms of their Grandmother, navigating three time zones.  I am so proud of them.

I have been accused of being overprotective, too interdependent even;  but I believe that the closer you are to your children in the beginning, the more solid their foundation for when they do spread their little birdie wings and teeter onto the edge of the nest.  And look at them now:  travelling together across the country alone, safe, and successful.

They will return soon, and we will turn our attention to back to school, and locking into the routine of the Fall.  I miss them terribly, but I also know that they (and I) need this.  That this is good for them.  I am so proud of them.

Fly, my little birdies, fly!