I’ve never been a fan of January, less still February but at least that month has brevity going for it. I guess it’s Winter that I don’t like; the shortness of the days, the greyness and constant threat of snow with all its associated inconvenience. More than once I’ve asked myself if November in Canada is a good idea but perhaps it is exactly what we need: To embrace Winter in a country that really knows how to make the best of it. I’ve been busy with work, the boys, a poorly grandmother who is thankfully now recovered, and trying to get my head around the fact that John will be 10 on the 31st. I just don’t feel old enough to have a 10 year old; I can remember being pregnant with him like it was last week, so what happened? It must be worse for my parents who will have a ten year old grandchild – is anyone ever ready for that? Come to think of it, no wonder my grandmother was ill!
These milestones seem like a good time to reflect and when I look back on the last decade I can boil it down to three children, two house moves (one of them intercontinental, the other to a house in the same street!), two university diplomas, three part time jobs and a whole lot of school runs. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would have 3 sons, I would never have believed it: I’d have thought 3 daughters more likely, although I’m not sure why; possibly because I had always assumed that I would raise girls to be strong women – I guess Nick and fate had other ideas. It makes me wonder what assumptions I’m making today about the future that will prove to be wildly inaccurate 10 years from now.
So in the spirit of the annual New Year’s resolution, my hopes and aspirations for the next decade look like this:
There will be more travelling (of this I am very confident) more time as a family and ideally fewer school runs. I’m pretty sure Nick is hoping I will return to full time work, though he is not brave enough to say it out loud, since the two occasions he previously did so swiftly resulted in first Teddy and then Alex! (and if you’re reading this Nick, there is no minor surgical procedure on earth that prevents adoption – just sayin’… 😉 )
Above all, I want to enjoy being with the boys; in another decade I may only have one left at home (although my mother thinks that might be wishful thinking and actually I’m more likely to have all three for several decades yet, with the ever increasing cost of housing making empty nest syndrome much less likely for the current generation of young parents).
Whatever the next decade holds in store for us, I’m as ready as I can be, so bring on the adventure!
brave enough to start 