One Hug at a Time

Pixabay

There are plenty of reasons to dislike this whole quarantine situation, but I have one reason in particular that makes it not so bad after all.

My daughter is home.

After three and a half years (minus a few summers) of walking past her empty room every morning, I now get to say good morning to her every day.

It's definitely different having a young adult here 24-7 than it was having a seven-year-old or even a high schooler here. I try to keep in mind that just a few months ago, she was living in a (rented) house of her own with three friends and no parents to tell her what to do, getting ready to graduate and, y'know start adulting.

And here we are. Three adults, finding our fit. Meanwhile....

We're eating more meals at the table. The norm when she was growing up, dinners around the table have resumed, replacing the dinners in the family room my husband and I often opted for.

I'm no longer the only one up after midnight. I'm still the last one to go to bed most nights, but my daughter isn't far ahead of me in that respect.

I'm declaring that sleeping in is not just for college students. Never an early riser, I now get up hours after my early bird husband, but still before my daughter, especially now that I'm teaching online instead of getting up for work.

We're each finding our niche. Three people, two jobs, one set of college classes...and a limited number of work surfaces. It's going more smoothly than we expected actually.

There's more laundry, more junk food, more interruptions and, my favorite...

More hugs.

I never expected to have the luxury of more than a summer with her here before she set out on new adventures, and I'm enjoying every minute (well, most of them, anyway). Soon enough, she'll be ready for whatever comes next and then, it will be my job to smile and support her decision, just as it was when she packed up the car and headed off to college. 

But, since the next departure is likely to be more permanent, I'm going to revel in the now. 

One hug at a time.