Walk a Mile . . .

I've been away for a while . . . mainly because my best friend and I started a business embellishing clothes. It sounds questionable, but is really fun and occupies the times of my day when I would consider writing a blog post or two. Here's our site if you care to check it out, but I digress. . .

As an only child, I always wanted 5 children, the first born when I was 25, and every two years after that until I was 33, and then if we wanted more, I'd still be at a reasonable age for more children. Three has been enough for me and us for now, but sometimes I look at my friends who are unmarried, or have one child, and I wonder what my life would be like if we'd waited to get married or have children. I think about the complications that are magnified by children, (and marriage to an extent).

There are many things that complicate a life. I pay our bills twice a month, do our laundry once or twice a week, pick up umpteen dishes/Legos/shirts/jackets/shoes in a day. I drive a carpool, shuttle kids to Brownies/soccer/baseball/camp. Make dinner, oversee homework, read stories, shop for groceries. . . The list seems to go on and on and on. I can't tell you how many times in a day I ask children to do what I asked them to do, or put on their shoes, or be nice to each other, etc. So naturally, I wonder if I would be more sane if I'd had children later in life, had more of a career, or had a job other than my home and children for that matter. I dont' have the answer, but I wonder.

As a young girl, I remember my dad talking about traveling the world once I left for college. He suggested joining the Peace Corps, or doing humanitarian work some other way. I left for college 15 years ago, and until November, he hadn't been out of the country.

My dad recently quit his job, rented his house for a year, and made flight arrangements to India for 6 months. Really. His bag was much smaller than those I've seen donned by contestants on The Amazing Race. He had little more than a rough idea of a few cities he wanted to visit, and was on his way. Leading up to his departure I was so excited for his adventure because he hasn't been an example of a risk-taker in my life. It's exciting to see him head off on this adventure.

He left in November and I've received one call from him, which I hung up on because I didn't know there was a delay in international calls, but mostly it's been through Facebook (thank you!) that I've learned about his adventures. Through his status updates, I've been able to view some really cool things (a 4 year old's right of passage getting a haircut, my dad giving school supplies to children in a very poor school, him giving hungry people rice, etc.). He's posted great photos, and then this . . .

He was meditating one morning and his shoes got stolen.

Dang it!

No matter how few possessions you have, how altruistic your motives are, or that the only one you are responsible for is yourself, there are still basics of life that require attention. My children will still need three meals a day, our clothes will still need to be washed regularly, and my dad will still have to somehow watch his shoes while meditating.

I don't know that this revelation on my part helps my dad any, but it sure helps me gain perspective.