Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Summertime Sadness and Conversations with Kids




Who else wishes that summer would last for 4 more months? 

Hey, in 4 months, Christmas will be over. 

Did I ever tell you how I grew up not ever celebrating Christmas?
 ( No I'm not JW. That's a subject for my second novel.)

I still don’t really celebrate it. But I do get a Xmas tree. 

Today I sat out on the patio that overlooked the marina and ate a delicious lunch of fish n’ chips. 

The sun was hot, the iced tea-sweet and the tartar sauce, unlimited.

After 5 days of wildfire haze, the blue sky looked amazing. 

Of course, back to school advertisements have been playing for weeks now. I’m staying away on vacation until after the September long weekend, just to prove a point that life isn’t over after the 3rd.

I had a chat with a retired couple who had been staying at the nearby resort. They travel in style and with a small dog and were looking for hotel recommendations along the highway. I offered a few suggestions, although I mentioned how I usually look for pet-free hotels. They laughed when I told them of my personal childfree/pet policy.

I like kids. Conversations with children are great. They offer valuable insights if you listen. 

I had a family function a couple weeks ago and my two nephews traveled with me part way. We chatted the entire 4 hours and they basically shared with me everything they thought about everything.

It was pretty cool. 

I’ve always shared with them what goes on in my life. My oldest nephew saw me working as a music teacher, and they both came to the bakery where I worked for years. 

They know that I write now and I’ve shared with them my future plans and goals.

Nephew #1 has claimed the first copy of my first novel when it is published, although due to it’s content, he has to put it high on his bookshelf, not to be read until he turns 18.

Ha!


We talk about money, how much it costs to run a house, and the general cost of a good life.

We discuss what makes us happy and also what annoys us.

They gave me tips on how to create a YouTube channel since this generation was basically born watching YouTube.



          This week’s video featuring my nephew Bob

Over the decade I worked as a music teacher, I had some of the greatest conversations about life with my students. I was a young teacher so there wasn’t a massive age gap. 

I’ve said this before--it was the adults who listened to me and let me be myself that helped me and inspired me so much during my childhood and teen years.

I am fortunate this was my experience. There are many who are not so fortunate to have trusted adults who treated them with respect. 

There are also a lot of people who are childfree by choice because they hate children. 

To be fair...

I do not like children in my living space on a regular basis. I lived for one year below a young family with two children under 2 and listened to toddlers with their shoes on running back and forth constantly and jumping off couches.  

Listening to babies crying for 5 days straight is not my jam.

Children grow up and become adults with their own problems that they still want their parents to help fix. Or have their own babies that they want their parents to help look after. They still need money, they need help with whatever, and parents are sometimes there to help or not.

One of my friends tried to talk me into being open-minded to dating someone with older kids. " When they get older, it's not so bad," she said. 

Um... no thanks. 

For me, childfree also means having a partner who does not have children. A partner who does not want children and understands why. 

It's not about the daily grind of being a parent, it's deeper than that. 

How much of my life do I want to spend raising humans?

Nothing in life is guaranteed, and while I plan on living a full life until the age of 95, I do not know for sure that will happen. 

After all, I did have a mother who died when she was 47. 

 I don't carry that genetic disposition that my mother had that made her ill so I'm not worried about dying young, but it makes me aware that I can be of service to the younger generation in a manner that inspires me, without having to have my own kids. 


At the end of the day, what I desire is personal satisfaction. 

And darling.. I excel in that area. 

And I'm not talking about what you think I'm talking about, although, I have no complaints there either....



Have a lovely evening.


Sincerely, 

LeNora Faye
Bitchy Bookkeeper
Almost an Author
Former Fantastic Violinist

Click for all the childfree links!

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