Last week the 'boys' in our house took a little road trip. Mr Busy could not get his homework done quickly enough, nor pack with enough speed when we suggested he might like to accompany his Dad on a trip to install a coffee machine in some out-of-the-way country town in northern NSW.
This left us 'girls' with three nights at home without the pleasure of our menfolk to entertain us. The house was quiet. And calm. And peaceful. We all spent some of our time studying. With a student-free day on Friday, we spent some time catching up on episodes of 'Under the Dome' and 'Extant'. We enjoyed a shared pan of nachos without feeling like we had to hoard our share, because we just picked away at it til it was gone. No competition.
And then the boys came home. In a whirlwind of noise and teasing and general kerfuffle they arrived home at lunch time on Saturday, ravenous and prowling through the kitchen. I spent the entire afternoon telling Mr Busy "it was quiet while you were gone!" Indeed, I went and did grocery shopping all the way down in the suburbs to get away let the dust settle a bit!
I know when I've been away for the weekend without my family I find the reentry to family a little bit bumpy. Coming home drops you back in the deep end of refereeing arguments and fielding requests that begin with "Mum, can you...." or "Mum, can I...." like all those questions have been building up to be blurted out the moment you walk in the door. After a weekend away it's hard to come back to the full force of that. But what I discovered on Saturday is that when anyone in the family has been away there is a period of readjusting and resettling that is necessary. And not always that easy. My best reentries have happened when the family have been out and I've had an hour in the house on my own to reacquaint myself with my real life. I suspect that may be have been useful to remember when the boys came home. Mind you, they had been on a three-day sugar bender, so there was extra fuel behind that reentry noise!
The back seat of the car looked like an archeological dig - layers of rubbish that told a story.
We're back to normal now, and a visit to 'The Dish' as they drove through Parkes netted me a new thimble for my collection; a softening of the reentry whirlwind.
5 comments:
I can definitely relate to this...the re entry, haha yes it can be rough at times!! Popped over from IBOT. :)
My boys seem to be like that even after school! It is relatively peaceful at home after they head off to school (I still have 2 at home though). But as soon as they all walk in the door it's on for young and old again! #teamIBOT
Oh my god, that little scene of tranquility you described sounds like absolute heaven!
It's nice to get a break from the men folk for a while. Things just seem to flow a little better ;)
Um, my car looks like that all the time!
Nice that they came back with a present :)
The idea of a 'reentry' is very interesting. I think our family may need to work out a way to practice this.
Post a Comment