We spend our lives as parents raising strong, independent kids who go off to college or off on other adventures for the next step in their lives. It’s the American Dream right? Well, it really sucks when they head off to college. You miss them, they don’t “need” you as much, and they often move far away.
But, I miss them for another reason…
Sorry, mom, we are off. You have to figure stuff out on your own now.
There is so much I need to now do. I’m not talking about taking out the trash or mowing the lawn. We live in a flat downtown and whoever sees the trash is full takes it out. I’m talking about other things that we need teens and often even younger kids to help with that we, as middle-aged parents, seem incapable of figuring out on our own.
The Media Room TV
Literally, we built this great media room and when we moved in, the twins were here a week before they left for summer travel and college. They tried so hard to show us how to work the system. Well, you see they left back in June of 2014 and our wonderful AV guy was here the next week, but it is now June 2016 and I still have no idea how to turn the TV on or off. And, if by some miracle I do get it turned on, I can’t seem to use it and get stuck on channels.
How we felt when the twins left us and we were on our own!
Spotify
We have it and we have it set up so we can all use it. From Omaha, Boston and New York, we can share play lists and enjoy each other’s choices. Well, here in Omaha where we parents are and the twins are not…we turn on our Sonos and hit Spotify, FAIL… You see there is a step I can’t figure out. I can listen to it for a bit, but when someone else, i.e. one of the twins turns on the music, mine goes off. There is a technology thingy you have to do to have your Spotify keep playing when someone else goes on, but I don’t know what that is. Please children come home and fix that for me.
Fixing My Computer
If the Genius Bar had alcohol I’d be fine, but it doesn’t and the Apple people are pretty sick of me asking them to help me do things that are not within what they are actually supposed to do. The last time I went to see my daughter, I actually had a bunch of sticky notes with all the messages that popped up on the computer I needed her to fix. So sad. And right now, my computer is being fixed and I’ll have to pay someone to do it. Kids are so much cheaper….
Not good when you have to bring your computer to your daughter to fix over Thanksgiving.
SnapChat
All I will say is fail, fail, fail. I want so bad to get it, but I don’t. I try really hard. The twins, friends of the twins, wait staff at restaurants, and a millennial who lives in my building tried, but I can’t get it. I need those kids home; to set me up and just take care of it for me. And why in the world do those pictures just disappear…
The truth is:
These are all just excuses for me to be lazy and not figure it out on my own. I miss the kids. While I like that we set them up to go and live these independent lives, I need to figure this technology stuff or borrow someone else’s teenager…
I am a home cook that does things my way. In my kitchen, I make breakfast, pack lunches, prepare snacks, and cook dinner. During the week, we eat real food that is homemade, organic, and local. On the weekends we do explore more of our local restaurants. I bake my own bread, juice fresh oranges every other day, and make my own kombucha and other weekly favorites.
