Peonies are generous enough that I can leave some in the garden for the neighbors to enjoy, collect some for drying for art, have some for distributing in vases, and could even collect some petals for making peony jelly — which may or may not happen this week. But it could. 🙂 We’ll see if I find the time; I have so much backlogged e-mail to work through, plus a little extra housework for the next few weeks.
Kevin is out of town right now — he left on Tuesday and will be in CA for two weeks, helping his mother with some eldercare stuff. The kids only have a few days between end of school and start of summer school (they don’t have a lot, but they’re both taking a financial literacy class to get it out of the way during the summer, so they can take more interesting classes during the school year), so we’ll be going out to join him in two weeks, have a short visit with his family.
This is maybe the first time I’ve been solo parenting for this long? Mostly, it’s pretty easy since the kids are so big now (17 and 14 & 3/4). I’ve already shifted over some of Kevin’s standard chores to the kids, which will probably hold for the rest of the summer, at least. (We tend to ease up on chores some when high school homework really kicks in.)
But there’s a weird extra level of tension — I find myself being more careful walking down the stairs, for example. Very aware that if I get accidentally injured, Kev isn’t there for immediate back-up. And of course, I do have back-up, both local friends and paid part-time assistants, so it’s not like I’m actually operating without a net. But still, a little nervous-making; I can feel the extra tension in my neck and shoulders.
Single parents, who do this 24/7, I salute you. Even just making sure the kids have dinner every single night is a lot. Every night!
(Of all the peonies here, the white ones smell the best, and strongest.)
