Happy Birthday for Mom
By Gwen Larson
August 18, 2008
Alex's next birthday is six months away, but I have to admit that I'm counting the days.
It's not because I want to throw him a Sweet Sixteen party.
(I don't, and he'd probably move out if I tried.) No, it's because, once he's 16, he can help with the shuttling chores.
I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner.
Still, on the last week of shuttling to practices or ball fields or basketball courts six days and nights out of seven, it struck me — 2008 is the last summer the Larson household will have just two full-time drivers.
Next summer, Alex will be 16 and can drive his brothers to daytime practices while Greg and I are at work. By the time Alex moves out, Luke will be 16 and can shuttle himself and Aaron. And by the time Luke moves out, Aaron will be 16 and can drive himself.
I can hear the arguments now: It's not fair. Aaron doesn't have to shuttle anybody.
Aaron already has his counter-argument thought out (and has voiced it already): It's not fair that he's the last because he'll have two years when all the chores will fall to him.
This summer has turned into an evolution (and something of a revolution) in the Larson house. Alex and Luke have stayed home alone without too much angst. Days have gone by with no phone calls beyond,
"Where's the new jar of mayonnaise?"
And they've been available for chores.
I can call home in the morning and tell them to fold clothes, hang clothes on the line or empty the dishwasher and it gets done. Greg goes further, he's walked them through washing loads of clothes, had them mow grass and load the dishwasher. That works great — as long as they're loading and unloading the dishwasher, I'll never know that they're doing it wrong!
Still, even having half a job done is refreshing. It's so much easier to come home to an empty dishwasher and load it while I'm cooking dinner.
They've also learned a bit of independence. They quickly decided they didn't want sandwiches for lunch all the time, so they're cooking. Granted, it's box dinners like Pasta Roni or burritos where they toss refried beans on a tortilla and warm it in the microwave.
But there is an advantage. On nights when we've all gotten home about 9 p.m. and someone says he's hungry, I can say, "Fix yourself something." After all, moms whose alarms go off hours before boys will be rising need all the sleep they can get.
Otherwise, said moms get very, very cranky.
None of the Larson boys wants that.
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