BACK TO ROUTINE

Spring break is officially over here. It was a relaxing week for my family. We spent two days at a lake retreat in the Big Thicket of Texas. My daughter and her friend had a great time fishing, horseback riding, going on a hayride, and feeding one of the resident alligators!

Claude they named the alligator. The first evening we freaked out, when the seven-foot creature swam up to cabin. We couldn't figure out why it just sat there, without moving, for twenty minutes. The last thing I thought about that night before falling asleep was that alligator. I wondered whether it was possible for the thing to leave the water and crawl up the steep embankment to our one-room cabin.

I later figured out, while reading the resort literature, that the gators are begging for food. There were several of them in the several small bodies of water on the property.

The next evening, we realized that “Claude's” presence had added to our fishing enjoyment. We hoped he would visit again. Like clockwork, the alligator worked his way down the line of cabins, hoping for a handout. He received a small fish from the boy staying in the cabin next to us. So when Claude made his way to us, we felt obligated to feed him this time around. The wieners left from our dinner were our best offering. We threw big size chunks toward his snout. The alligator kept trying to turn his mouth sideways to retrieve a chunk of Oscar Meyer, but the water was too shallow.

What a difference a day makes. One evening we are screaming in fear and the next we are feeling sorry for Claude because he can't retrieve the wieners. After much effort and very little reward, he finally gave up and swam off to the next cabin.

Unlike our four bedroom house, a one-room cabin promotes togetherness. I enjoyed interacting with my daughter in this outdoor setting. She is an independent teenager, who can spend hours making stop motion and animated videos to post on YouTube. She wants to be an animator and work for Pixar some day. I don't doubt her ability to do so.

We arrived home in late afternoon. We immediately began doing our own thing. I was busy unpacking and tackling the laundry. Our daughter went to her room to begin creating a video of Claude. She talked her father into bringing her a sandwich for supper. Around 9:30 PM, I went into her room to say goodnight. Without prompting, Miss A. had finished her video, bathed, read in bed, and gone to sleep. For almost five hours, she had done her own thing alone.

It is nice when one's child reaches an age that they can complete grooming and other daily obligations without needing to be prompted. And there's something to be said for the comfortableness of routine. But if growing up means living independently from one another, in the same house, maybe it's time for a smaller house. Because this mother needs a goodnight kiss.