Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I was reading in an old journal from my sophomore year of college the other day and came upon an interesting passage where I wrote that I didn't ever really see myself getting married or having kids. WOW! What a difference 10 years makes I guess. (Yes, I am that old!) Maybe the thought of having a family was influenced by who I was dating at the time (that would have been a nightmare), but I don't think I could see my life a too different than it is now.

The one thing I would change is my employment situation. I think a lot of working moms would. I enjoy having some freedom to work, and it gives me some independence, but time spent with my boys means more to me than anything else. Thus is the plight of the working mom. Yesterday, I took the day off to spend with the boy. Every month I try to do that giving us some quality time together that is special for him and me. In the beginning, it didn't seem all that different from a weekend day together, but as the day progressed I realized that he gets that this time together is different.

When we woke up on Thursday, I asked The Boy if he would like to stay home with Momma today and he got so excited. His normally independent demeanor changed...he become so lovingly clingy. If you know my son, this is not typical of him. He likes to do things by himself and isn't in the least bit overly attached. Yesterday, he was. I got lots of hugs and kisses, lots of sitting in momma's lap, lots of I love yous. I liked it, don't get me wrong, but it makes me wonder if he is missing that on a daily basis. I thought it might be a struggle this morning when I took him back to school, but it wasn't. He kissed me goodbye and went off to play with playdoh. Heathly attachment is good thing, I guess. I just have to keep reminding myself that it is often what you do with the time you have together instead of how much time you spend together that matters.