Summer@Home: What I Learned

People keep asking me, "When are you going to write the 'what I learned' blog?" It actually started before the driving restriction ended. They seem eager to hear how I was changed by seven months not being able to drive.

I actually started writing this post a couple of months ago. But I got a ways into it and realized something:

I won't know what I've learned until it's tested.

When you are in school, you can sit in a classroom every day, read the assignments, do the homework. But until the test comes, you can't really separate what you've learned from what you've merely been present for.

It's the same way with my seven months of no driving. I could tell you about the experiences I had while not driving. But I can't really write about what I learned — how it changed me — until I'm back in the driving world. Until it's tested.

There's a part of me that thinks that two weeks in is still too early. I don't yet know what will migrate from short-term to long-term memory. But I'm tired of people asking, so here goes.

I'm not going to explain all of them at once because this would turn into more of a dissertation instead of a blog. So I'm splitting my lessons learned into two groups:
1. My relationship with stuff.
2. My relationships with people.

PART 1: My relationship with stuff.

Summer@Home: I Remember...

On September 11, 2001, I took my son to daycare like many working moms, then came home to begin my work day. I remember walking past my bedroom door when the phone started ringing. It was my sister, which was not unusual.

"Where does Stuart work?"

Now that was unusual. No hello. No how are you doing. Just straight to the point ... where does our brother Stuart work?

"I don't know. In Manhattan somewhere. Why?"

"Turn on your TV."

"Stace...what's going on?"

"Just turn on your TV."

Summer@Home: Sleepless Night

Another Sleepless Night by Janet Lavida

It's 10:40, and I can't sleep. I can't even think about sleep right now. So I think. And I write. 

Isn't it funny how two of your own kids can be so alike ... or so different. We have two distinct pairs of boys.

Pair A: Number 1 and Number 3.
Dark hair, thin as a rail, very little temper to speak of, but passive aggressive. Will look you in the face and tell you what they know the right answer is ... then turn around and do the opposite.

Pair B: Number 2 and Number 4. 
Blond hair, blue eyes, and solid as rock, both of them. And a temper ... whoa Nellie! Do they both have a temper. If I had a nickel for each time either one of them has said they hate me (or I hate them) or I'm the worst mom in the world, I'd be relaxing on a beach somewhere with a piña colada in my hand.

You want to know what the kicker is?

Numbers 3 and 4 are the full bio-brothers. But they have nothing in common.