A good community keeps you young
Hi Alex and Avery,
When you get older and have kids of your own, you will contemplate leaving the city for the space and greenery of the suburbs. You will do this because the giant sized kid toys will be taking over your apartment and you will have convinced yourselves that your children need freedom to have fresh air whenever they want it, although in reality your kids will want to stay inside and watch tv, play video games or use the computer rather than go in the backyard. You will also justify the decision to go suburban because of the schools, the excellent schools! Before, during and after you make the suburban transition, you will bring up these justifications ad nauseum to your friends who have chosen to remain city dwellers, but in reality, you will be repeating these mantras to quell the fear in your own hearts.
"Will I begin to wear mom jeans?" you wonder (or for Alex, whatever the male equivalent is to 'mom jeans'). Will I feel completely isolated and become utterly boring? Will I become (gasp), Middle America?
Never fear, my darlings; your dad and I went through all these stages of grief associated with losing our city selves, and here we are, more than six years later, and we have survived. More that survived. You see, in fact, we have flourished because while we chose our town for its schools and greenery and houses with basements to hide all the giant sized kid toys, the wonderful surprise when we got here was the other people who also chose this town. People like us (!), who like to go out and laugh, and have a drink, and be silly, and NOT wear mom jeans (or whatever the male equivalent is), and stay young, and have the cultural context to understand what it means to be Gen X (or whatever your generation will be named in years to come).
It is a good place. I hope when you are adults that you can find the same kind of contentment, companionship and community in this place that we call home.
Love,
Mom
When you get older and have kids of your own, you will contemplate leaving the city for the space and greenery of the suburbs. You will do this because the giant sized kid toys will be taking over your apartment and you will have convinced yourselves that your children need freedom to have fresh air whenever they want it, although in reality your kids will want to stay inside and watch tv, play video games or use the computer rather than go in the backyard. You will also justify the decision to go suburban because of the schools, the excellent schools! Before, during and after you make the suburban transition, you will bring up these justifications ad nauseum to your friends who have chosen to remain city dwellers, but in reality, you will be repeating these mantras to quell the fear in your own hearts.
"Will I begin to wear mom jeans?" you wonder (or for Alex, whatever the male equivalent is to 'mom jeans'). Will I feel completely isolated and become utterly boring? Will I become (gasp), Middle America?
Never fear, my darlings; your dad and I went through all these stages of grief associated with losing our city selves, and here we are, more than six years later, and we have survived. More that survived. You see, in fact, we have flourished because while we chose our town for its schools and greenery and houses with basements to hide all the giant sized kid toys, the wonderful surprise when we got here was the other people who also chose this town. People like us (!), who like to go out and laugh, and have a drink, and be silly, and NOT wear mom jeans (or whatever the male equivalent is), and stay young, and have the cultural context to understand what it means to be Gen X (or whatever your generation will be named in years to come).
It is a good place. I hope when you are adults that you can find the same kind of contentment, companionship and community in this place that we call home.
Love,
Mom
Jodi, thanks so much for stopping by Pink Dryer Lint! I love these letters to your kids, and this one has me entirely stymied because, REALLY, what ARE the male equivalent of mom jeans?
ReplyDeleteYour community sounds wonderful! Isn't wonderful to feel right at home where you're planted? Wishing you a great day!
Thanks for reading, Robin! Glad to get a chance to "watch" your girls grow up. It truly is wonderful to be in this parenting thing with so many virtual moms. Happy Thanksgiving!
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