I am sooooo abused.....

If you have been reading this blog in any way, shape or form over the time I've been posting; then you probably know that I miss my kids.

That is, I miss them when they are not here. Now they are here for the summer and I get all the glorious things that go with living with teenagers in my house. Glorious things like not being able to keep groceries in the fridge, having to tell one of them to turn off the computer and go to bed at two in the morning, reminding them that only daddy gets to leave his dirty socks laying around the house, cooking dinner for four and expecting leftovers and then having six teenagers show up for dinner and not getting a meal myself, settling disputes over who is really acting like a turd and so on and on into the foreseeable future. Trying to raise these two is an act of futility on my part. Between work, household chores and juggling the social lives of one dad and two teenagers; this is just plain hectic. My gasoline bill has doubled. My grocery bill has tripled. I have yet to see the water bill but I am dreading it. And the electricity bill....forget about it......a small loan called a second mortgage.

But I love it!!! I actually get to meet their friends. I get to hear about their day and some of the zany things they find amusing. I get to hear someone else compliment my cooking and say thank you when I hand them a warm towel right out of the dryer. I get sent to the store for a trip down aisle eight. My son actually enjoys helping me with yard work (even if I weren't paying him eight dollars an hour) and my daughter is a photo scanning and photo shopping guru. Dang, just watching her swoon over any cute boy who wanders within eyesight is funny. The boy doesn't have girls on the brain yet, but all his buddies do and I imagine it won't be long for him.

This whole on hands parenting thing is what I miss. The last time I was doing this was when they were six and seven. And let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference between six/seven and fifteen/sixteen.

That being said, and tomorrow being the first day of July; I have one month left with my children this summer. Then I have to let them go again. That is the hardest job I've ever had to do. And I am not looking forward to it. Although it is getting easier and easier ever time.

This is why I do not envy "The Baby Mama". See, I have already had to struggle with the absence of my kids, and I am used to it. But she has it coming up by way of the college thing in a few years, and I hope she enjoys every moment of missing them day in and day out.

Anyone else out there already dreading the empty nest syndrome??