Keeping in touch

Images This past weekend, I have come to realize, as it hit me right between the eyes, what life is going to be like as the nest continues to empty out. 

First of all, I really wanted to get out of town on Friday morning.  I need it.  The kids staged a coup and I lost.  Serious drag.  We ended up staying in town and running a variety of errands that needed to get done, that would be getting Jessica a car for school.

On Saturday, Fred and I decided to do a double header at the movies.  We saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox which is genius.  Funny, clever, different and absolutely worth seeing.  Our second flick was The Messenger which is intense.  Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster play 2 army officers who are the messengers to families that they have lost their loved ones in the war.  Unbelievable performances all around.  After, Fred and I made our way over to Pylos and sat at the bar to have dinner.  Good Greek food -  always crowded.

So, let's get back to keeping in touch.  Truth is, if Jessica was in college, I wouldn't know where she was at anyway at so I didn't feel I needed to know where she was last night although we were texting during the day.  Josh was on the town from hanging with friends at our house to going to the movies to getting more friends and eventually making his way back to our house for a group sleepover.  Our home seems to be one endless party.  It was all about texting, talking and just knowing where he was all night long.  I trust him, I just want to know where he is.  Emily also had a day.  She was out with friends, eventually having dinner with Jessica and hanging out with friends at a bar downtown.  Totally cool but her phone was out of range.  I called her friend looking for her and ended up calling Jessica and found out she was with her.  Emily talked to me and I said, I totally trust you, I just want to know where you are at, and I have not talked to you since 4pm and it is now 1030, so not cool.  It is all about keeping in touch.  With the cell phones, it is easy to do.  In the city, everyone is doing their own thing, as they should be at this age, we just all need to know where we are.  It actually makes for a good connection.  No excuse not to send a message.

On another keeping in touch moment.  Fred and I came back from dinner and saw that our friend checked in on Four Square at a bar right near our house so we walked in and ended up hanging out with him and some other friends for a while.  Love that.  The beauty of Four Square and social networking. 

At the end of the night, Fred and I called it quits and of course, I heard the party continuing at our house around 1am when it woke me up as Emily rolled in with a few pals and hung out with Josh and his pals.  The endless party, perhaps, but at least I know where everybody is.

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Comments (Archived):

  1. lazerow

    Great post. Love the concept of “keeping in touch” versus trying to control your kids. Looking forward to my monkeys navigating the city on their own. Happy holidays to you and the Wilson fam.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Thanks Michael…happy holidays to your gang too!

  2. David Smuts

    Interesting commentary Gotham Girl. Staying in touch is definitely cool but what wbout when it is relegated to short text cave man talk instead of the old fashioned picking up the phone or even letter writing (remember that?).Our communications with one another have been condensed down to bare basics. I’m guilty if this too! I just sometimes miss the art of language, text has killed that for us.