My home life is rather fairy-taleish at the moment, though. I wouldn't say it was dull at all. Every morning I wake up and am honestly happy to be in Forest's presence. I look forward to seeing him all day, and am touched that he goes out of his way to stay in contact with me throughout the time we're apart. At the end of the day I can tell that he's as thrilled to see me as I am to see him. It's dreamy.
But it's also reality. We work very well together. We're a great housework team, and can accomplish small and large tasks as a pair without conflict, and generally do a better job than we would have singly. We're good at teaching each other, and we're good at sparring each other, too. Even when we're both dead-tired or cranky, there's a stream of affection between us that doesn't falter.
It should feel too good to be true, but that's not the case. It feels like just the way things *ought* to be. It's natural, and requires no effort or adaptation from either of us. And we're both incredibly happy.
Last night was an exception to our usual Wednesday night date. Forest's friend Will is leaving for Colorado tomorrow, so the two of them wanted to spend a few hours together before then. When we got home, Forest sat on the couch, and Kirstin and I piled on top of him, and we all cuddled comfortably until dinner time. It was blissful. I then made one of my monstrous taco salads, which Forest liked, despite of his raising his eyebrows at the rather bizarre ingredients.
I can't say as I blame him. I would never have predicted that taco salad with crushed chips, sugared meat and Thousand Island dressing would be tasty. I digress.
We sat on the living room floor together and watched Hercules , and snuggled until Kirstin's bedtime. After Kirstin went to bed, we enjoyed each other's company *very* much, and I relished getting to bed early as he headed out to see Will. The greatest thing is that I know that he carefully considered my feelings when deciding whether or not to go out. He asked again and again, and we talked it over together. I love getting that kind of thoughtful consideration.
I also feel much better for having gotten the extra sleep. The life of a 22-year-old is a lot different from the life of me. Granted, we don't stay up as late as he used to, but we don't go to bed as early as I did, either. It's somewhere in between.
I just unwillingly overheard Jane in the cubicle next door prattling on about her son's college applications. Apparently little Brian has been accepted to Valparaiso, Alma, and MSU, and they're still waiting to hear about U of M and Notre Dame. I, of course, am not really interested in hearing any of this. Every day I hear about what a special kid Brian is, and how great his grades are, and how good he is at baseball. Brian makes good choices, Brian got an award yesterday, Brian won a scholarship. Then Jane pointed out that no, she hadn't had him apply for financial aid, because she knows that he isn't needy enough. They have plenty of money to put him through school.
Gosh, I sure hope I'm in that position when Kirstin gets old enough. I don't believe in paying for all of a kid's college expenses, because I think I learned a lot about life and about myself by working in school. I didn't party a lot, I didn't buy a lot of expensive clothes and jewelry like a lot of those priveleged students do, and I learned that none of those things were really necessary. I learned the value of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and how expensive it is to own and operate a car. I learned to pay rent, and what it's like when you *can't* make rent. These were important lessons to me, I believe.
On the other hand, I will pay for a lot of Kirstin's planned expenses. I'll cover tuition, and books, and part of housing. I don't want her to have to struggle as much as I did. I always wished I could just study, and not worry about being able to eat or not at the end of the day. I worked too much, and barely made enough money to keep a roof over my head. I don't want Kirstin to have to do that.
I also hope Kirstin pulls herself together enough to one day qualify for college. I hope she has terrific grades and has learned a lot in school. I hope she kicks Brian's "special" butt. I certainly hope she overcomes this natural desire to have someone else to do her thinking for her. I would be horrified if she turned out to be one of the unthinking sheep that I see so often in the world.
