On being a grownup…

It’s almost 2 am, and I’m sitting here, eating chips from the bag, because I can. See, I’m a grownup, and grownups get to do whatever they want.
I know this sounds silly, but Mose is VERY aware of the fact that I “get to decide things” and he gets to decide less. Lately, he’s taken to saying, “When I grow up…” and it reminds me of ME as a kid, saying the same thing.
Candy for dinner! A house full of dogs! TV all day! Life was going to be SO GREAT when I was in charge.
This is, of course, not how grownup life feels much of the time. I did not WANT to fly around the country twice this week, or fold three tons of laundry today. I do not WANT to wake up in the morning at 7 am for the fourteen trillionth time in a row.
BUT.
Mose has a point. I am in charge. I “get to decide.” Not about everything. I can’t decide my arthritis away. I can’t decide for someone else to magically make us a healthy free dinner that everyone will eat. I can’t decide for all the traffic in Atlanta to melt.
But it’s 2 am, and I have a bag of chips. And you know what else? There’s a beer in the fridge, so maybe I’ll drink it. At 2 am. BECAUSE I CAN.
Candy for dinner? Here’s the thing– I’m a good mom, or I try to be. I make them brush their teeth. I make them clean their rooms. I feed them leafy greens and tofu and whatever-is-healthy-this-week. But sometimes… sometimes… I want to be a kid myself. I want to say YES! I want to play.
Candy for dinner? We’ll see where we are at dinnertime tomorrow. I’m thinking maybe we need a road trip.
Tomorrow.
Seriously.
In which case, we will TAKE ONE.
Because after all, I GET TO DECIDE.
UPDATE! We got into the car after breakfast, and hit the highway! Now in Helen, GA, in a supercheap riverfront motel. Spent the afternoon catching tadpoles in the Chattahootchie. Dinner will be decidedly German. Hurrah for spontaneity.
May 25th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Most days I feel like I just got out of high school, so when faced with grownup responsibilites and issues, I tend to think that being an adult is overrated. But then I open a bag of licorice and eat the whole thing at 10:00am — because I can. It’s all about the food, isn’t it?
May 27th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Glad you got out of town. Enjoy yourself. And the kids.