Poor Early Middle-Agers. We are at that exhausting time of life when our children are nearly grown, but still as demanding as toddlers. They're filled with adolescent rage, but they want to DRIVE.(What a terrible combination!) We are at the end of a long period of hard-core parenting, working, tending to aging parents, and our bodies are changing, rather painfully. We early middle-agers are just plain tired, and more than ready for the rewards that all this hard work ought to bring.
This is my 17 year old daughter's last year at home, and it promises to be a hard one. I wish I could just set her free now, and I'm sure she feels the same way. I think college should begin at 17, why not? They could move into the dorms, have an adult available for support, and try out life on their own. Why wait until 18? The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. They can eat with terrible manners in their cafeteria, with other terribly-mannered people like themselves, they can leave clothes to molder on their own floors, and they can wipe hair and toothpaste and makeup on someone else's towels! They can keep each other up late a night while I sleep blissfully in my own bed from 9pm to 5am. Ahhhh, yes. I can dream, can't I?
Obviously, all this means that we really needed a break. And miraculously....my mother took the teen away for 4 days. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a goal to hopefully reach one day, it was actually happening. When we learned we would have 4 days without kids, my husband and I could hardly believe it. I didn't even feel my fingers as I dialed the Inn at Cannon Beach. Yes, I said to the nice person on the phone, yes two nights, yes an upstairs room with a view sounds great, yes a complimentary paper every morning, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!
So we got away with it. We got away with getting away. Two whole nights at the coast, in an upstairs room with a view and a complimentary paper. It was truly medicinal, and I think my doctor ought to have prescribed it. We didn't even take the dog, which you might think isn't very nice, but honestly the dog seems to hate the beach. She is scared of the ocean and tries to pull us away from it which makes me think she can sense a tsunami coming and kind of kills the joy. So we got a pet-sitter, our nice friend Gary who sleeps at our house to keep the pets company. This way we can totally relax knowing they are comfortable and happy and not stressed out in a kennel.
The first day rained all day which was a little bit of a bummer, but we do live in Oregon and it is Spring so what do I expect? We took the sting out of the weather by cozying up to the fireplace in our room and having beer at the pub next door. That worked like a charm. The next day was GORGEOUS! HEAVEN! 65 degrees and sunny on the Oregon Coast is about as good as it gets in this world. Total paradise. We hiked through old growth forest to the beach head, wandered along ice-cold streams and explored ancient tide pools. The surf was sparkling and crashing white around the rocks, the intrepid surfers were bobbing about on the water, it was amazing.
One of my favorite things to do at the coast is explore the little beach-y neighborhoods. Cannon Beach has so many adorable beach cabins, in all shapes and sizes. Being a hippy kid I have a real soft spot in my heart for quirky shingled cabins, skylights, lofts, and stained glass windows. I can't get enough of these adorable spaces, one day I'd love to own one.
Ahhh. The medicine healed us, and by the end of the four days we felt a great weight lifted. Now, the teen is back and at this very moment doing her hair before school, which is always a time fraught with peril. I feel the old routines and the stress they bring hovering somewhere above me, but for now the medicine is still working and I feel a sense of calm. I hope it works like a time release capsule and keeps me afloat until the next time we can go.
Happy week to all of you!
xoxoxoxo DR
Comments