I like my job. It is rewarding and fun most of the time. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life right now. That being said, it will surprise some of you to learn that I am not, in fact, four years old. I can horse around with Malcolm and his friends for a long time, but eventually I get tired of it. I can only play Uno or whatever the heck he’s into so many times before I starting pining for the adult world. As the day wears on, this desire begins to grow. I stare longingly at my (shut down) computer while Malcolm is eating his dinner. I begin checking my email on my phone when he is in the bathtub. When I finally read him books and get him down for the night, I sprint out of his room, and get my grubby little hands on my reintroduction to the adult world.
Luckily, I don't have to choose
The chalice, for me, is a glass of wine. Or three. Whatever, the actual number doesn’t matter. It’s the symbolism that I love. The magical glass of wine transforms me from being a big kid in a stained shirt to an adult (still in a stained shirt, mind you, but an adult nonetheless). I get to be like everyone else out there, relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine and some mindless TV. The chalice brings something totally mind-numbingly absent from a stay at home parent’s day. Relaxation. Even when you are doing something that you both really like, like bowling or hucking rocks at our neighbor’s cats, you still need to be mindful of dangerous hazards or creepy guys in vans. This tension, the stress of dealing with tantrums or potential pitfalls to everyone’s happiness wears on you. The chalice allows all that mess to fade away. At the end of the day, when the house is quiet, and you raise that chalice to your lips, all is right with the world. You recharge your batteries and get yourself ready to do it all again tomorrow.
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