• Freedom’s Just Another Word For Nothin’ Left To Lose

  Filed under A Dude's Guide to Kids, A Dude's Guide to Life
  Jun 10

  Today’s the day. The very last day of school. Well, it’s the last day of school for my youngest little dude. The middle little dude already got out, since he was in a private school, and the oldest little dude didn’t go to the last two days of his school, since they were make-up test days and those who weren’t making up were just wasting time. All of which means I can kiss whatever freedom I once had good-bye.

  I will say, though, it has gotten better as the little dudes have gotten older. They’re not only old enough to stay by themselves when I’m off running errands or the like, but I’m actually contemplating the quickly nearing day when my oldest will be able to drive on his own and start running errands while I laze around at home, watching my stories and eating bon-bons. Or something like that.

  Years ago it was much worse. I had to take the little dudes with me whenever I went out, making it a major deal, and I had to deal with the three of them underfoot at almost every second of the day. I ended up staying up far too late every night just so I could get some time alone to get a little writing done. Which meant I wanted to sleep late, but, with three little dudes running (and I do mean running) around. . . Well, let’s just say that sleeping late wasn’t really on my daily agenda.

  Day camps were a god send. When the little dudes were really young, I’d drop off the two older little dudes at a local day camp and then have only the youngest during the day. That made things much, much easier. Now things have changed a little. The oldest little dude is too old to go to sleep-away camp, so I’m sending the youngest two. It’ll be . . . different . . . having only Sarcasmo (my own little pet name for the dude, seeing how sarcasm seems to be turning into his super power) at home. I’m actually looking forward to spending a little quality time with him.

  Still, this is a tough day for me. It’s the last summer break before my youngest little dude will start his last year in elementary school. When the little dudes go to middle school, that’s really the end of my seeing them at school. In the elementary school, I can be around as much as I want. Right now, I volunteer in P.E., help in a reading program and an art program, and am a chaperone in field trips. All in all, I sometimes feel like I should get paid for all the time I’m at the school.

  It’s tough, really. I’m torn between being happy I’m going to have more time with the little dudes and apprehensive that I’ll lose what little time I have to myself. Still, I think I come down on the happy side. I know they’re not going to be here for much longer and I’ve got the rest of my life to be away from them. Geez, I’ve never thought about it that way before.

  Now I’m depressed. Thank a lot. I think I’m going to go have a lie down now.

  Anybody got any bon-bons?

  – Richard

  • Spread the word, dude!

  Tags: A Dude's Guide to Kids, A Dude's Guide to Life, Art Program, camp, Chaperone, Day Camps, drive, dude, Dude's, eat, eating, Field Trips, Freedom, God, Kiss, Last Day Of School, Late Night, little dude, little dudes, men, Pet Name, Private School, Quality Time, reading, Reading Program, richard, Running, Running Errands, sarcasm, school, sleep, Sleep Away Camp, summer, Summer Break, Test Days, Tough Day, Volunteer, Wasting Time
  
  Tagged as: Art Program, camp, Chaperone, Day Camps, drive, dude, Dude's, eat, eating, Field Trips, Freedom, God, Kiss, Last Day Of School, Late Night, little dude, little dudes, men, Pet Name, Private School, Quality Time, reading, Reading Program, richard, Running, Running Errands, sarcasm, school, sleep, Sleep Away Camp, summer, Summer Break, Test Days, Tough Day, Volunteer, Wasting Time
  
  Comments Off

Comments are closed.