Glory Days

I was thinking about being in high school the other day. Just meandering through nostalgia-ville while on my front porch, where I escape from the children and indulge in my outdoors addiction (smoking).

I thought about the way we approached life back in the day. I thought about responsibilities and the ability to be carefree (and job-free!). I thought about hanging out and going swimming, biking through town, getting ice creams and sodas, eating until we were about to puke.

In between this, I thought about my current, adult schedule, and whether we would be able to find time to take the bug fishing. Could we get the lawn mowed this week, cuz we skipped it last week... Would the back room ever be organized? What about vacations, which we never take cuz we have too many little things to take time off for?

Would I like to go back to the days of no responsibility? Of having no more obstacles in life than the word of my parents? Wait... What?

Did I forget about that? Just for a minute, did I go all Alzheimer's and miss the fact that with great freedom comes great responsibility? Did I misplace the knowledge that I have to work for MY home, MY car, MY time off, MY children, MY choices?

Why, yes; yes, I did. But I'm better now.

Left Turn, No Blinker

There are two ways to approach having children: a) they will fit into your pre-existing life, and b) your life does a 180, loop-the-loop, barrel roll, screetching halt, speedy reverse with drifting...

Anyone who thinks that they can go with A is in for a shock. It just doesn't work that way.

Children are like bank robbers who get trapped with the bank CEO, surrounded by SWAT. They are desperate to get their own way and somewhat delusional that they might actually do so. Any negotiation with the hostage takers will only result in encouraging their behavior. DO NOT NEGOTIATE. They will NOT release your life to it's previous existence.

For pagans, this is even more so the case. We used to go to ritual, engage in various activities for achieving altered states, some form of "free lovin", a little bit of nudity, playing with fire and bladed weapons, staying up all night, dancing around fires...

Now? Supper is at 6, pj's and books at 7, and bedtime is 8, and the goddess split the skull of anyone who dares to disturb that most sacred of rituals.

Where solstice used to be a revelry of unprecedented Bacchanalia, it now consists of barely getting the kids outside before the sun sets (cuz you disrupted the sacred ritual, silly!), trying to light a fire in the firepit with wet firewood (cuz it's been raining for a week and you were just happy that all the family was indoors - forget worrying about the wood!), while using free limbs (arms, legs, head) to keep the kids from sticking their "helpful" fingers into the flames, then trying to make up a story about the sun on the spot (cuz you certainly haven't had any time to PREPARE) and having it interrupted every 30 seconds by questions you may or may not know the answer to until you don't know which way is up.

But it's all worth it because every family member joined in waving goodbye to the setting sun and that seems far more spiritual than turning in a circle to address each of the cardinal directions.

Happy Solstice (late, of course)!!