Nine days from now, my contract will officially end. I will have no responsibility for the house next door. I will have returned their damage deposits, and wished the best to them and the new property manager. All that will be left is record-keeping and taxes next winter. I will be free to be grandma, with my whole heart. No more clenches in my belly of "I should be..." Even if literal weight does not fall off my body, enough emotional weight will drop off to make me feel human again.
While the kids are home on new baby leave, they don't technically need babysitting. But we know better, that all new parents need a break anywhere they can get it. So when our daughter put out a very vague hint of needing to do some living room cleanup without toddler interference, we jumped on it. We ran a couple errands, and then grabbed the older two. We needed lunch, and they needed to get out, so we went to Modern Market for some sandwiches and lemonade. (Unfortunately, I ended up suffering from gluten cross-contamination, but the food still tasted good.) They wanted some runaround time, so from there we went to a park. We let them play on two different playgrounds at the same park, and before we left, the three whose bellies weren't trying to murder them all rolled down a hill a few times. While there, the squirrel of Mr S-P's dreams circled him a few times. Why can't we get a black squirrel on our block? They're so cute.
Val wanted just a little more adventure, so we drove through the countryside on the outskirts of town. By the time we got back to city limits, both kids were zoned and had to be carried inside at home. I missed out on fresh baby cuddles because I couldn't get out of the car until I was home (seriously, this was a nasty glutening). Tomorrow we will try again to go hold the tiny man.
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