Full nest:

You may or may not have missed me on the blog last month.  May is always busy, if you know or have children of any age.  End of school performances and celebrations, graduations, moving home.   Yes, the girls are home for the summer, and my heart is full.  Most of the time. 

Everyone wants to write on our walls

which is great, since it's a magnetic wet erase board. But this message is totally out of pocket.

They are people with opinions, and so many shoes.  I am now the car captain, making sure that none of us is stranded without a vehicle when needed. 

Is this a week when we are all here, and a Costco level of shopping is needed?  Or is it one in which the home is more of a hotel, just a place to lay your head (and sometimes not even then)?  Will we be hosting friends, old or new, for them or us? 

And they generally follow Family Rule Number One: Don’t be a shitty roommate.   

from a friend who knows us well

Clean up after yourself.  Don’t put empty milk cartons back in the fridge.  Put your work and play plans on the family calendar.  Call if you’re not coming home when you said you would. 

As you know, my lists keep me on task (usually).  I’ve added a cat care rotation, since the cats are still holding a grudge against those who have departed and returned.  No, “how about the one who is unemployed does all the cat chores?” is not a solution.  Particularly if you ever want them to forgive you for growing up, you have to feed them occasionally.  And scoop the litter. 

Naturally, there’s lots of late nights and napping, Fortnite and Love Island.  Sister time to which moms are not invited.  I love that they value time together, just the two of them.  

I’m sometimes rewarded with offers to buy groceries, to help in the kitchen and/or plan and prepare a family meal.  They often want to hang with us, particularly if it involves a bottle of decent wine—which disappears quickly with four adults.  And I do not really want a Biggie Buzz Ball or Four Loko, nor am I going to start buying them, thank you.  

Sometimes they say things I treasure, whether they meant it to be a compliment or not: 

• “Wow, you guys are busy.  Like with a real social life.” 

• “Mom, why would you buy those?  They are old lady shoes.” 

• “Can we get a rotisserie chicken?”  (YES!!  One has discovered the inherent value in a whole bird when cooking your own meals; the other and her friends devoured an entire bird in the dorm, tearing it apart with their hands like they’d never eaten.  They sent a snap: “it wouldn’t fit in the mini fridge”.) 

And my favorite:  

• “Can I help you in the kitchen/get you something from the store/watch this with you?” 

This is likely (Maybe? Probably? Who knows?) the last summer for all four of us nesting here.  So, even though I am often home without a vehicle, I’m writing less.  I’ll see you more in the fall.