Honeymoon

Thank God a honeymoon is in the offing. E and I haven't been alone since our wedding. It's been non-stop kid action, and our kids require a lot of attention and entertainment. One of A's refrains is, "What are we going to do that's FUN??" I hope we're not in real trouble, because they are typical children of divorce who expect each parent to go all out all the time. The three of them are particularly hard to handle all at once . . . and I'm going to have to . . . which is pretty scary.

I'm also going to have to handle being worked around kid schedules - baseball, violin, karate, volleyball, guitar, etc. I rarely see E in the summer; he's at a baseball game almost every night. Meanwhile, it is time to get A more involved in activities, and the challenge there is to find what she's good at. You want to give your children the best opportunities, but it is hard to know what they'll love. This past year A complained, "I don't want to do Drama. I don't like Drama," and it almost broke my heart. Her father is pushing for ballet and swimming is necessary so that doesn't leave us a lot of time. An overprogrammed kid is not my idea of good parenting.

The problem with living with E is that we do not have compatible parenting philosophies. He's all about activities and then lets his kids watch TV to their hearts content when they are "off." I've never owned a television and spend most of my time playing with A, with select activities thrown in. I think the biggest challenge will be how to maintain these two distinct cultures in one home. Thankfully, she'll have a room out of the fray of the basement, where the television and computer are. I'll try to make it a bit of a sanctuary for her and for me (I'll put my office in there).

What am I going to do in that office, with my life? That's another challenge. I'm not going to think about that until after the honeymoon.