One of the best things about staying with my inlaws (I don't like that word; it seems distant) is the little boy cousins who make frequent visits to this place. They descend upon us like a tiny tribe: some shy, others rapid fire with questions, all easily bribed with candy.
They are so totally awesome, amusing, and novel. The world of little boys is not especially familiar territory, though I adore it to pieces. For one thing, it is very energetic. Also, I've had to dust off my knowledge of space/action genre movies, which was never that stellar in the first place. I find myself immersed in deep and probing conversations about good guys and bad guys, in which I sense my nephew hopes I will be both reckless yet reassuring. He likes to blur the line between fantasy and reality to an extent, but ultimately he's counting on me to confirm it still exists.
You know?
It's fun to talk like bad guys are real, but not really real.
During this hiccup from our daily schedule, I think my girls have been lulled by the indulgence of grandparents to assume all regular duties would be placed on hiatus.
Unfortunately for them, the indulgence of grandparents is nothing compared to the meanness of mothers.
Anyway, it's all working out. I've stopped thinking in terms of space, which now means my brain truly has no frame of reference, since time was never my strong suit, either.
Mainly, I just float. I pick up kids. I take them here and there. I stop by our new house and admire it like a tourist. I see my husband from time to time and smile at him. He gives me the nicest hugs. I think I've been wearing the same jeans and t-shirt for about a decade now. I sort of miss my mom. I miss my sisters. I am so grateful to my husband's parents. Yesterday my mother-in-law put Izzy's hair in pincurls and taught Caroline how to sew a purse. A purse! And last night my father-in-law took Sophie to volleyball practice and went shopping with Izzy for the ingredients for monkey bread, just because she said it would be lovely to have for breakfast.
And it would have been, except we ate the entire thing the minute she took it from the oven.
I'm not kidding when I say a part of me will be sad to leave.