No, Really, I’m OK

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November 4, 2011 by themommahen

If you ever want to get an already protective parent riled up, make your first blog post in weeks something about “dying to self.” That’ll do it. So, just to be perfectly clear, I am not down, depressed or sad. Call me introspective, curious and self-aware if you will, but I’m pretty content and happy for the most part. While there are definite challenges to being back in the house I lived in 20 years ago, sharing space with the ‘rents, herding three hatchlings trying to protect a brood of 16 assorted feathered fowl, I know how completely and utterly blessed I am to be right here. So I thought it fitting in this month of Thanksgiving when so many are sharing what they are thankful for, I may as well join in.

Just a year ago, I was trying to figure out how we could possibly continue on our path in Chicago. Don’t get me wrong, we loved it there. Loved saying we lived in Chicago.

You live in Chicago? Whereabouts?

The city. About three miles straight west from the Hancock building.

Oh cool – you actually live in the city?! Cool.

But as much fun as we had there—Chicago Cubs games, late nights, cab rides, bars, restaurants (and wow do I miss food delivery!!), easy public transportation—by the time we had H#3, it was getting to be more fun to say we lived there than to actually live there. It had gotten a little more stressful, with a few more adult worries thrown in—the schools, the neighborhood, child care expenses, extracurricular activity registration hell, work/life balance, a growing family in a shrinking townhouse. When we had the chance to move, it was a no-brainer, but we still agonized over it. At least I did.

Now we’re here and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. My dad says that his grandfather used to always say a woman needs her own kitchen and a man needs his own house. If I know anything about my great-grandmother, she would have taken issue with only getting the kitchen, but the point is while there are certainly days that saying perhaps hold more truth than we’d like to admit, nine out of 10 we know we made the right choice. (Having DirecTV come and set up an additional receiver or two may have also helped, but that’s a different story.) So while this isn’t what we necessarily pictured 16 years ago when The Husband and I met, it’s okay. And while this isn’t necessarily what my parents envisioned when they said I could move home any time I wanted, they’re okay too. And for the Hatchlings, this is all more than okay with them. And for all that, I’m extremely grateful.