I Miss Him, I Miss Him Not .....

For the past couple days, my son J is no longer in the house.

But only for a week.

The long awaited day came that he got to fly off to sunny California, tagging along with his Dad, who is off to yet another conference.

He had been planning and hoping and dreaming of this day for months. It is J's dream to one day live in CA, and when F knew he had this trip coming up, we told him he could go if he earned it.

And earn it he did. Sort of.
His grades improved. Marginally.
He earned no more notches on his Detention Belt at school.
However, the effort of keeping it together at school left him with no reserves to hold it together at home, so he's been kind of miserable to live with lately as the pressure mounted.

Still, the furniture was neither upended nor broken. Nobody has been hurt (unless feelings count), and his chores have been completed (though I dare not look in his closet for fear of what I may find).

So now that he's gone, do I miss him?

I Miss Him
His creativity pouring forth as he makes toys and planes and beautiful artwork

I Miss Him Not
His constant knocking down of every syllable uttered by his brothers and sisters and yes, his parents too

I Miss Him
His many hugs every day, from sun-up to sun-down.

I Miss Him Not
The countless faces J makes at his siblings every day, from sun-up to sun-down.

I Miss Him
"I love you Mommy"

I Miss Him Not
Mercilessly teasing his brothers and sisters in his often mean-spirited way

I Miss Him
Sigh. I just miss him.

So bottom line, do I miss him?
If I'm being honest, I will admit that many of his behaviors I most certainly, hands-down will NOT miss.

But my son? Him, I miss.


I won't miss being #12. Click the button to take me higher!