Gone Feral

My kid came home today after a long visit with her grandparents. Here she is, playing her favorite game, America's Next Top Model:



She's gone away for long visits before, but this time I just fell into some sort of alternate kidless universe without the structure of Mom-dom to tether me to the real world. This morning, I found myself just standing on the subway platform watching train after train go by thinking about how much I was looking forward to her coming home. Someone I knew came by and saw me just staring into space, and I found myself making up a story about how the passing trains were not going to my stop to explain why I was just standing there, watching another train go by, staring into space.

What happens when a mom goes feral? Well, I found myself thinking that wine and cheese is a perfectly balanced dinner. I only washed the clothes I liked - I actually threw away clothes I didn't want to wash. I put the Swiffer in the closet, and you know I love the Swiffer. I fell asleep wherever and whenever I found myself sleepy and watched way too much TV.

Kids grow up and move away, and I have a pretty good kid and I look forward to her happy adventures in life. But these last few weeks were a little glimpse of the empty nest.

Which apparently is filled with wine bottles and cheese rinds.