Mama Talk on us leaving
This has been submitted to the boss for approval, and instead of nodding and passing it back, he went to the office of the big boss. Hmm. Crossing fingers never hurts, right?
You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
“Someday” has been following me around for quite a long time. “Someday” was when we were going to get our fireplace fixed, and “someday” was when we were going to drive up to see the Quinault Rain Forest.
“Someday” was also when we were going to change places, so my husband could work full time and I could stay at home with Benjamin, our 2-year-old.
Well, “someday” snuck up behind us and pounced recently when my husband learned of a full-time massage job in Woodinville that would pay enough for me to stay home and perhaps have another baby some time soon. To us, it was just a pipedream, but we decided it couldn’t hurt to apply.
As you probably predicted, my husband did land that job, and our days left on the Harbor are now into the single digits.
I was - and still am - thrilled to get to stay home with Ben. Being the breadwinner was always meant to be temporary, and I was struggling emotionally with missing out on all the day-to-day moments in my son’s life.
But leaving the Harbor has brought forth a wave of nostalgia I never could have imagined.
We did make it up to the rainforest recently, and I was in absolute awe. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life, and I made my husband promise we could come back and spend our next anniversary at the Lake Quinault Lodge.
As for the fireplace, all it took to fix it was a screwdriver. It was absolutely free, and now we can have roaring fires anytime we want. And the reason we left it boarded up for more than a year? “Someday” hadn’t come around yet.
As I embark on this new, unknown stage in my life, I find myself yearning for the familiar as well. Mama Talk was my voice on more than just parenting issues. It was my connection to my community. More than anything else at my job, I will miss writing this column.
And it seems I’m not the only one. So far, I’ve found the most common response to our news is something like, “No more Benjamin in the paper?!?!”
Honestly, it makes me proud that so many people enjoy reading about our exploits. I don’t feel that we’re particularly special, but perhaps that’s the point. People read about Ben’s latest adventures and remember when their own children went through the orange stage or went to the beach for the first time. It’s that connection that unites us all as parents.
And it was recently pointed out to me that you don’t have to be a Harborite to understand this.
So, if you enjoy Mama Talk, let us know. If no one responds, my editors will take a hint. But if you’d still like to read it, even after we move away, feel free to call or write.
Just don’t wait for “someday.”
You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
“Someday” has been following me around for quite a long time. “Someday” was when we were going to get our fireplace fixed, and “someday” was when we were going to drive up to see the Quinault Rain Forest.
“Someday” was also when we were going to change places, so my husband could work full time and I could stay at home with Benjamin, our 2-year-old.
Well, “someday” snuck up behind us and pounced recently when my husband learned of a full-time massage job in Woodinville that would pay enough for me to stay home and perhaps have another baby some time soon. To us, it was just a pipedream, but we decided it couldn’t hurt to apply.
As you probably predicted, my husband did land that job, and our days left on the Harbor are now into the single digits.
I was - and still am - thrilled to get to stay home with Ben. Being the breadwinner was always meant to be temporary, and I was struggling emotionally with missing out on all the day-to-day moments in my son’s life.
But leaving the Harbor has brought forth a wave of nostalgia I never could have imagined.
We did make it up to the rainforest recently, and I was in absolute awe. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life, and I made my husband promise we could come back and spend our next anniversary at the Lake Quinault Lodge.
As for the fireplace, all it took to fix it was a screwdriver. It was absolutely free, and now we can have roaring fires anytime we want. And the reason we left it boarded up for more than a year? “Someday” hadn’t come around yet.
As I embark on this new, unknown stage in my life, I find myself yearning for the familiar as well. Mama Talk was my voice on more than just parenting issues. It was my connection to my community. More than anything else at my job, I will miss writing this column.
And it seems I’m not the only one. So far, I’ve found the most common response to our news is something like, “No more Benjamin in the paper?!?!”
Honestly, it makes me proud that so many people enjoy reading about our exploits. I don’t feel that we’re particularly special, but perhaps that’s the point. People read about Ben’s latest adventures and remember when their own children went through the orange stage or went to the beach for the first time. It’s that connection that unites us all as parents.
And it was recently pointed out to me that you don’t have to be a Harborite to understand this.
So, if you enjoy Mama Talk, let us know. If no one responds, my editors will take a hint. But if you’d still like to read it, even after we move away, feel free to call or write.
Just don’t wait for “someday.”