Home Alone
I honestly can't remember the last time I was home alone. I mean truly alone, with no other humans around.
This week my wife left for Mallorca with both kids. I stayed home. The idea was that we couldn't really trust my mom to get through a whole week alone in her half of the house anymore. Then there are our two dogs, who really aren't the dog hotel type.
But things changed. My mom has been living in a senior residence for a few weeks now, and her half of the house is empty too.
It's strange. What do you do when you don't have to function as usual? When family life isn't filling every hour, and you don't have to make sure your mother hasn't forgotten her pills again.
Suddenly these thoughts show up:
- Am I actually allowed to just do nothing? And how does that even work?
- Is it okay to sit down with a book instead of tackling the next project around the house?
- Is solo grilling a thing?
- But you're responsible for both halves of the house now. You have a week off. You can't just do nothing.
My wife told me to take care of myself.
Do only what's necessary, and actually wind down for once.
Damn. Who knew self-care could be this exhausting? So many questions running through my head.
So tonight, I did something new.
I grilled for one.
At first it felt wrong.
Then I embraced it.
I took my time, prepared everything, put on some of my favorite punk bands, and simply enjoyed the evening.
And I loved it.
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