A Personal Assistant

Every summer I think about how trying to work with kids around the house is like continually stabbing yourself in the eye with a pen.

I still feel that way, even though my children are nineteen and above now, and have been in and out this summer as their lives have dictated.  But for a couple of weeks, I had the awesome experience of having a Personal Assistant.

My daughter, just graduated from college, had a brief period of time when she was home and not working and not going to school.

I can put you to work, I said with an evil laugh, rubbing my hands together gleefully.

Truthfully, after a series of back-to-back deadlines, I was sort of drowning. Oh, not drowning-drowning, but the sort of just-keep-your-head-above-water type of thing that we parents do every day, juggling everything and always seeing a ton more things that you really want to get to but–not enough hours in the day.

So Daughter #2 planted flowers. Hosed out the garage. Returned stuff that needed returned. Drove the dry cleaning to the cleaners. Grocery shopped! Took mailings to the post office. Weeded. Taught me how to crop photos and use a graphics program better. Freed me up so I could organize a closet for my boxes of books which were starting to take over a small room in our house.

Now we must end the summer by taking Daughter #2 to a big city where she will start grad school. We’ve been piling up everything she’ll need for her tiny apartment. We’ve scavenged the attic for old furniture and kitchen supplies. She’s about ready to go, and we’ve got her just about all squared away with everything she needs. She was appropriately thankful–but I was thinking, she just has no idea how much of a better shape I’m in than when the summer began.

We love our children, we sometimes wish they would leave, they often should leave at a certain age and go start their own lives. But it’s always a bittersweet leaving. At the end of every summer, I always think about how the kids leaving is like stabbing your heart with a pen.

Those darn kids, anyway.

This upcoming week:  please join me and the very talented authors below on Tuesday, August 9th as we help fellow contemporary romance author Laura Trentham celebrate her newest small town romance release (all times are EST):

8:00 PM- Rachel Lacey
8:20 PM- RaeAnne Thayne
8:40 PM- Laura Trentham
9:00 PM- Heather McGovern
9:20 PM- Shelly Alexander
9:40 PM- Miranda Liasson

There will be fun, excerpts, and plenty of giveaways! Join the party here!