Dear Friends,
Let’s have a playdate. Remember playdates? Remember how would sit in the park or by the pool or in my living room for hours while the children played? Remember how we nursed babies and sipped iced coffees and every now and then had “grown up drinks”? Remember not feeling rushed? Not having a full schedule? Remember talking about potty training and picky eaters and birthday parties. Remember talking about sex and recipes and hairstyles?
I know. The kids are big now. They don’t really play anymore, and when they do hang out, they don’t exactly want us hovering around.
They are big. We don’t even have to have a playdate. We could go out. Just us moms. Remember? We used to fantasize about being able to go out.
The thing is, we don’t.
We have baseball practices and band concerts. There are volleyball games and cheer practices and track meets. What made us think that things would be easier when the kids got bigger? What made us think we would have more time?
Even if we had the time, would we know what to do? Would we be able to fall back into our old patterns of easy chitchat and comfortable conversations?
Some of us have moved away. Some of us have fallen apart. We have jobs and crazy schedules. Parents to take care of and teenagers to manage.
I don’t mean to overly romanticize those years. I know they weren’t a cake walk. We were busy then too. When we had little ones, we were stressed. We were frazzled. We were exhausted.
But I don’t remember being lonely.
When the chaos of a houseful of tiny people got to be too much, I could always call on one of you. There was always someone who also needed to let the kids entertain each other for a bit while we talked. There was always someone who was up for a playdate.
So, who’s up for one now? Let’s skip baseball practice and blow off the track meet. Let’s ditch the schedule.
I don’t want to go out. I don’t want to worry about parking or finding a table. I don’t want distractions. I just want to wear yoga pants and sit in lawn chairs.
We’ll talk about proms and parties. About the books we’re reading and our jobs. We’ll talk about sex – and how to talk to our kids about sex. We’ll talk about parents and aging and college and empty nests.
Friends, let’s have a playdate. Let’s pretend that time hasn’t really flown by. Let’s pretend that the kids are little and that we have hours to talk and years to go until all of this is over.
Okay? C’mon over. I’ll make the “grown up drinks”. You bring back 2004!
Love,
Just another mom of teenagers
Photo Credit: Mack Male
More by Laura Catherine Hanby Hudgens:
When Your “Baby” is Home From College
Teenagers: I Want to Remember These Last Times
Family Dinner: We Lost The Table and Found Much More
Average Students: Finding Success One Class at a Time
Why Cheating Hurts Students Now and in Their Future
