What's Better than Mom?

State of Life: Tired from doing my summer cleanup work

Musical Input: Tear the World Down by We Are The Fallen

So, what's better than talking to Mom? Apparently, frozen waffles. It's always nice to know where I rank in the world of teenagers. I'm kidding, mostly, but it was one of those things that you just shake your head and realize it's another one to chalk up with those things that you never thought you'd hear, say, or do as a parent.

Some of the things I've said: Don't lick the cat, Don't spin the rifle in the house, Go get the dagger out of the ground so I can mow, Quit complaining, the weekend will be over soon. (Yes, that one has been said to my daughter who'd rather be in school than on Christmas vacation.)

While my kids are away for part of the summer with family, this is my chance to clean the house and have it stay clean. At least until they get home. =-/ It's kind of a weird experience, having lived in a house with children for the last nearly seventeen years, to actually clean something, AND IT STAYS CLEAN. It takes me a while to get it to where I like it, but then it stays there. I always thought of myself as a mediocre housekeeper, but apparently, when it's just me, I'm not too shabby.

In spite of all that, I still count the days until they get home. I'm very fortunate in that I really do get along pretty well with my kids. Given that they're 17 (minus a couple weeks) and 14, I appreciate the fact that my kids will show me affection in public, they don't run and hide from me when we're at the mall, and we enjoy things like sitting down and talking over a meal or playing a family game. In some cases, like my taste in music or playing video games, they even (sometimes) rank me as one of the cooler moms they know.

So maybe, just maybe, Mom is better than frozen waffles.