a random mix of faith, family, and the many things that fill my mind
This week, we sold a house. Though we moved to our new house several months ago, we finally closed on the sale of our old one this past Monday. Here is my husband and our boys in front of the old house on Sunday. See my other post for a slightly more emotional exploration of this transition.
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So. We kinda did things backwards.
Back in October, we bought a house. Then we moved into it.
THEN we got our old house ready to sell. We listed it in January.
Amazingly, and thankfully, it sold in an incredible five days.
We closed on it this past Monday.
Whew!
I admit that still owning that other house has kept me a bit distracted for the past few months. Though I wasn’t there every day, it was always on my mind. I stopped by regularly to check on things, do a quick vacuum, make sure everything was still humming along properly. And I thought quite a bit about how nice it would be when we finally sold it and didn’t have to think about it anymore.
So here we are; it’s sold.
And yes, it IS a relief. It’s good to be a one-house family again.
But I confess that Monday was a bit bittersweet.
Though we’d been living in our new house for several months, the old house was still there. It was still accessible, still ours. The swingset (enjoyed by many kids), the basement we finished, the rooms full of memories… were right there.
And though I know we take the memories with us, it was still just a teeny bit hard to slide the key and the garage door openers across the table to the new owners…to very firmly close the door on that chapter of our lives.
***
C.(13) and I had a little “camp out” at the old house two weekends ago. We packed our air beds and sleeping bags, a board game and our books, and headed to the old house for one last evening. We played a game and talked about some of our best times at the house. We got our beds ready, settled in with our books, and fell asleep.
It was a bit strange. The house — empty and yet full of strange echoes and creaks that we didn’t notice before — felt different. But we were both glad we took that little adventure. It provided some nice closure for the two of us, admittedly the more sentimental ones in the family.
***
This past Sunday, all four of us descended upon the old house for one last time. We removed paint cans, cleaning supplies, a few last tools. We swept out the garage, and checked the yard for random wind-blown garbage.
L.(5) played on the swings and marched around the backyard. C. took pictures from every angle imaginable.
It was good. We were preparing the house for its new owners and saying our goodbyes.
The new owners are very nice. They were so excited about closing on the house, making it their own. At the closing, they told us more than once how much they were looking forward to moving in, listed the various features that made them fall in love with the house. Assured us they would take good care of it.
It was exactly what I needed to hear.
***
As I read back over this blog post, I wondered if it comes across as a wee bit melodramatic. If it does, that’s okay. We enjoyed nearly seven wonderful years in our old house. And though we love our new house, and are excited to create new memories here, to enjoy the next chapter together as a family… I think it’s okay to be just a tiny bit sad as we turn the page.
***
See my Wordless Wednesday post for a related picture. And thanks for reading!
Eight years ago, I went to a Kindergarten orientation meeting. C.(13) was about to enter Kindergarten and I was there to learn all about the program, the curriculum, the teachers. I wanted to be sure that this school was, indeed, the right place for him, and that I knew all the details I would need to get the entire process underway.
As I sat in the school’s library, waiting for the orientation to begin, I noticed another mom that I recognized from our church. In an attempt to be friendly, I introduced myself and asked if this was her first time at the school — if she, like me, was checking things out in anticipation of sending her first child there.
“Oh no,” she replied. Then she went on to tell me that one of her kids had already graduated from the school, and another one was still there, in one of the upper grades. She was at the orientation in anticipation of her third child starting Kindergarten there.
She knew the ropes, knew the school, knew the teachers, knew the curriculum.
Basically, she was there to get the enrollment forms.
***
Last week, I attended another Kindergarten orientation meeting at that same school. This time, it was for L.(5).
And this time, I was the experienced mom. Or, as it seemed to me last week, the old mom.
I know the ropes, know (most of) the teachers, am familiar with the curriculum, know the school.
I was mostly there for enrollment forms…and to see if any big changes had occurred during the previous 7+ years.
Having widely-spaced kids has its own unique set of pros and cons. Mostly, it’s been a great fit for our family.
But I have to admit, things felt weird last week at that meeting. I’d been out of the Kindergarten loop for quite a long time, yet there I was again, at another orientation, starting all over at the school with my second-born.
I watched the young moms and young couples. They were full of questions, making every effort to ensure this school would be perfect for their little ones. They inquired as to the academic rigor of the reading program, the “opportunities for enrichment,” whether or not there would be a naptime.
I didn’t ask a single question. I knew the school was a good school, but I’d also learned that no school is perfect. I knew L. would learn plenty, but that he’d also have fun. Since C. is still at the school — in seventh grade now — I was familiar enough with all the details to just sit back and listen.
Basically, I knew…it would all work out.
But I remember being that first-time mom, the one full of questions, the one working on creating that perfect Kindergarten year for her son.
***
Being the old mom isn’t so bad, I guess. Yes, I’m eight years older (which comes with its own set of pros and cons). But there’s a comfortable familiarity that comes with it. Or maybe it’s just tiredness, masquerading as comfortable familiarity.
It’s hard to believe that almost eight years have passed, though, since I sent C. off to Kindergarten. And even harder to believe that both of my boys will be climbing on that school bus next fall.
Going from new mom to old mom, in retrospect, happened very, very quickly.
L.(5) is a bit of a puzzler. He gets a magazine from Highlights called Puzzle Buzz and is always so very excited when the newest issue arrives. He particularly loves the hidden picture puzzles, and will often curl up next to me on the couch so we can do them together. But just as often, I’ll find him hidden away somewhere in the house, carefully studying the pages and solving the puzzles. With a mom (and a grandmother or two) who are also big fans of puzzles, I guess it’s to be expected.
I love coming across these quiet moments of concentration.
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About a week ago, I brought home some poster board. You wouldn’t think this was such a significant event — C.(13) had to put together a quick project on an invertebrate and had asked if I could pick up some poster board sometime when I was out, and I had simply obliged.
But when L.(5) saw the poster board I had brought home for his brother, he was instantly jealous. I attribute his jealousy to two primary underlying facts:
It will not surprise you to know that L immediately asked if I could get him some poster board the next time I was out — and also, if I could make that next time happen very soon.
While my next outing (at least, my next outing that took me to a store that sold poster board) did not happen quickly enough for L.’s liking, it did eventually happen. On Sunday, I came home from the store with a gigantic piece of paper, just for L. Coincidentally, Sunday was the day C. chose to do his project, using the previously-obtained poster board of his own.
I should have been able to predict what happened next.
C. worked diligently — gathering, cutting, and pasting pictures and facts relating to the invertebrate assigned to him (it was a black widow spider, and since I am most definitely not a fan of spiders, this poster cannot head off to school fast enough, in my opinion). And unbeknownst to me, L. began to work on his own “animal poster.” He decided to dedicate his project to Ants. By the end of the afternoon, we had two creepy crawly type posters in our home.
Due to the fact that L. used a pencil to write out his “ant facts,” you most likely can’t read them. Allow me to help.
L. drew several different types of ants and made notes about them all. He has:
If you can make out the pictures, you’ll see that the “ants” L. drew on his poster have many, many legs — far more legs than the scary black widow spiders on C.’s poster. Let me assure you, if I found any ants in our home that size and with that many legs, I would a) call the exterminator, and b) move out.
I learned a few things from the poster board projects:
This is just one example of the cute little copycat who lives in our house. L. looks up to his brother in many ways — always watching, often imitating, deeply loving. And I have the privilege of being the mom who gets to soak it all in.
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