Tales of Moving

I was sitting on the front porch swing the other night talking on the phone when my mother called me inside to dinner. Without thinking, I told my friend that I was being called to dinner.

“It’s not weird being back home?” my friend asked.

It isn’t…. most of the time.

After thirteen years of not living at home, I’m living with my parents for a few weeks until my house is move-in ready. Having not lived at home for so long, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was young when I moved out, and my parents set the rules until the day I moved into my first apartment as a married woman. I haven’t had their rules for a very long time, and though there still aren’t any rules, per se, there is respect for them as my parents and the gratefulness for their allowing me to stay here. It is awkward to be a mother living with my mother. Too much mothering going around some days that the children can take advantage of and not in any of the beneficial ways. Which is partly why it is a temporary living arrangement. Not to mention I have grown rather fond of my independence.

There’s also the little matter of no internet here. The first night I went to sleep early because I didn’t know what to do with myself when I couldn’t go online. The second night I picked up a book to avoid the withdrawal.

I’ve figured out that too much of my time is drained by being online. And though I will soon have it hooked up in the new house, it may be a good idea to limit some of my use. There’s so many things that I could be spending my time on besides glued to a computer that I think I needed the realization and the withdrawal to show me exactly how much time I’m wasting.

I’ve also experienced what it feels like to slow down and just spend time with people in simple conversation instead of rushing off to accomplish whatever is next on my list. I’m not likely to want to rush back into the hurried pace I keep to accomplish a to-do list just yet.

And though my move in date approaches, I think I will take advantage of this unexpected time with family as well as a little less technology.