I came home from New York last evening exhausted and stressed out. My work load this summer is a bear and despite pulling off a successful media tour with my boss and his boss these last two days, all I could see was a long “to do” list that kicks off tomorrow. So on about 2 hours sleep, I sat down to dinner with the familial unit.
More often than not, dinner at our house is rushed and/or done in shifts. Somehow there are always activities going on during the dinner hour. When I was growing up, we sat down to dinner as a family EVERY night for what seemed like an eternity. Or at least that’s how I remember it. And I remember it fondly. So I relish the few nights each week my family and I sit down together, even if it is only for the 10 minutes it takes for the boys to vacuum their plates. And after a few days of being an out-of -town professional with no child rearing responsibilities, I needed to reclaim my identity as Mommy and wife. Consequently, I probably engaged with them at twice the normal level of parental interaction. Which means me rattling on about nothing until someone notices and responds.
To wit, I started telling the boys about a random social studies lesson from my elementary school days that has remained forever branded on my brain all these years. In Japan, if students fail their major exams, rather than receiving a notice that says “you failed”, a telegram will state” the cherry blossoms are falling”. The premise is that this phrase conjures up such a lovely image, it takes the sting out of the message. I think to myself that I could have used this phrase several times in the last few days.
We move on, finish shoveling food into our mouths, and the boys asked to be excused. Dave, who has been walking the dog all day with no luck whatsoever in the poop department asks Noah to run down to the basement to see if the dog chose this alternative as opposed to the grass outside. Noah races down and within second bellows up,
“THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS ARE FALLING!!!!”
There’s no place like home.