Someday when the kids are grown, life
will be different. The memo pad on my refrigerator
door will read, "Afternoon at hairdresser," or,
"Browse through art gallery," or, "Start golf
lessons," instead of, "Pediatrician at 2:00," or,
"Cub Pack Meeting." Someday when the kids are
grown, the house will be free of graffiti. There will
be no crayoned smiley faces on the walls, no names
scrawled in furniture dust, no pictures fingered on
steamy windows, and no initials etched in bars of
soap.
Someday when the kids are grown, I'll get through a
whole chapter of an engrossing book without being
interrupted to sew a nose on a teddy bear, stop a
toddler from eating the dog food, or rescue the cat
from the toy box.
Someday when the kids are grown, I won't find brown
apple cores under the beds, empty spindles on the
toilet paper hanger, or fuzzy caterpillars in denim
jeans. And I will be able to find a pencil in the
desk drawer, a slice of leftover pie in the
refrigerator, and the comics still in the center of
the newspaper.
Someday when the kids are grown, I'll breeze right
past the gumball machine in the supermarket without
having to fumble for pennies; I'll stroll freely down
each aisle without fear of inadvertently passing the
candy or toy sections; and I'll choose cereal without
considering what noise it makes, what prize it
contains, or what color it comes in.
Someday when the kids are grown, I'll prepare
Quiche Loraine, or Scallops Amandine, or just plain
liver and onions, and no one will say, "Yuk! I wish
we were having hot dogs!" or, "Jimmy's lucky, his mom
lets him eat chocolate bars for dinner." And we'll
eat by candle light, with no one trying to roast
their peas and carrots over the flame to "make them
taste better," or arguing about who gets to blow out
the candle when we're done.
Someday when the kids are grown, I'll get ready for
my bath without first having to remove a fleet of
boats, two rubber alligators, and a soggy tennis ball
from the tub. I'll luxuriate in hot, steamy water and
billows of bubbles for a whole hour, and no fists
will pound on the door, no small voices will yell,
"Hurry up, Mommy! I gotta go!" Yes, someday when
the kids are grown, life will be different. They'll
leave our nest, and the house will be Quiet....
and calm....
and empty....
and lonely....
And I won't like that at all!
And then I'll spend my time, not looking forward to
someday, but looking back at
yesterday.
.....
.....
