Actually an Artist

Daily writing prompt

What were your parents doing at your age?

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Low blow, WordPress. You know us younger folks can’t keep up with the way things were 30+ years ago ;-P.

My parents had me 5 years before I had my first kid, and my brother 6 years before I had my second. So by this point, they had two kids in elementary school I have one kid in elementary school and one very much at home. I can only imagine having two kids in elementary school is basically livin’ the dream after the baby/toddler/prek years. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE these ages. I was made for toddler mom’ing. Toddlers get such a bad reputation in society, but it’s just not warranted. If they’re mad, it’s because they see the rules are made-up and they want THEIR rules to be the ones we all run on! I love this freedom and imagination.

Now, my parents didn’t own a home like we do. We also managed this almost solely because the pandemic wiped everything out and we found a landlord desperate to dump the property. And we’re handy, so fixing things up has been a side bonus of owning it. But my mom had a career at this point. I’m actually taking a step away from my career. Many people my age (Millenial) don’t have traditional ‘careers’ like in yesteryear. I think the freedom is good, but the lack of supports and safety net make this harder than it needs to be. I thought the US was the land of opportunity? We could be doing a lot more policy-wise to encourage risks and ventures.

My dad was still working on his PhD at my age but I think he was teaching by this point too. I have all but closed the door on more traditional schooling given the cost of attendance and the student loan situation. I care about learning and growing and improving myself, but a piece of paper and admissions and predetermined course of studies with research papers and the like doesn’t appeal to me. I loved college. LOVED it. I loved mornings in the library quietly reading and connecting dots between different scholarly takes on aspects of French literature or music theory. And staying up late busting out a paper. But honestly? I don’t really care to be writing papers anymore. I was probably only ever good enough at it, and there are myriad ways to learn and grow and stretch yourself that are more embodied than fingers typing away furiously at a keyboard.

I wish I had more time-freedom these days to pursue new things to learn and do. I want to get back to pottery. I want to paint more. I have some course creation ideas bubbling around in my mind. But all-in-all, I am staying in the moment and that means small children who need me often. Particularly at night 😩.

Thanks for reading! While you’re here, check out my series on contemplative writing prompts! I’d love for you to join me!