Little Surprises

When my son went off to college last fall I knew things were going to change at our house. I knew I didn’t have to buy as much milk every week. I knew our texting bills would increase. I knew I’d send more care packages than any freshman had ever seen, teehee. But I didn’t count on some of the other surprises that came my way.I was surprised to find that I no longer had to set an alarm clock. My bod likes to get up at 7:30 every day. It just wakes up then no matter what time I go to bed. Since there is no longer a kidlet in the house to get off to school I can wake in my own natural rhythm. So nice.I was surprised by how long it took my husband and I to have a full load of dirty dishes so we could run the dishwasher. How many a meals a day had that kid been eating anyway? His after school snacks had taken on epic proportions so there were many more dishes to do. And laundry. It takes just the two of us a lot longer to make full loads of clothes that need washing.I was also surprised to find something left in our empty nest, my dear husband. As a family we’d been so focused on college for a year and now it was all up to the kid to spread his wings and take off. Dear hubby and I have found a new rhythm and it’s nice. In fact we took off this week on a whim. Well not entirely, he had a work conference and invited me to tag along. What fun. It is a surprise to find out there is life after the day-to-day of raising our kidlet. It was a blast while it lasted and I know we are not turning in our parent status. But I see a new kind of parenting on the horizon, and a new way of being a couple. Both are very pleasant surprises indeed.