When my parents were here, I had fun dreaming with my mom all that she would do when she retires. When talking with my kids, they tell me what they want to do when they grow up.
I normally attempt to live in the moment, but that doesn’t mean I have way too much fun dreaming. As long as those dreams don’t take over my current dream life, I think it’s just wonderful imagining what I will do when my kids get bigger.
When my kids are bigger/are grown up/are out of the house:
-I want to practice the piano every day. I can plunk things out. I want to get good enough to sit down and play anything out of our hymn book.
-I’m taking over one bedroom for my sewing room, and one for a snazzy guest bedroom. I have so many plans for a sewing room up there from types of storage to where the quilting design wall will go. If I don’t have an embroidery machine by then, I’ll get a fancy one for my room.
-I will surround myself with other people’s kids. I want to be “Grandma Gretchen” to lots of kids.
-I will get a full night’s sleep…every night.
-I’ll finish writing a book and attempt to publish it in the big leagues.
-I will travel with Knut. We’ll go on a river cruise down the Seine River in France. We’ll see Norway.
-I will build a big flower garden on the side of the house. I want one with hedges around it, and a wooden archway with climbing flowers. It will have some flat stones to walk on to a little sitting area where I’ll have either a bench or table and chairs. There will be flowers everywhere. When my kids get bigger.
-I will throw more parties. They’ll be wild in a Norwegian/Lutheran sort of way.
-I will be able to volunteer at places again.
-I will read fiction, and often.
-I’ll buy myself a spinning wheel and learn to spin.
-I’ll go to New York with my sister for a long weekend like we’ve been planning. I’ll see the fabric shopping district and she’ll buy a Coach purse. No one will ever guess I’m a farm wife and she’s a teacher.
What will you do when your kids get big/grow up/move out?
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Anonymous says
August 2, 2011 at 1:53 pmGood post! I took today off from the kitchen, 1st day off since the middle of June.
Anyway, I often think of what it will be like when the kids are grown.
– I’ll be sad not to have my children around me.
– I want to invest into other women’s lives in ways that matter by discipling and mentoring them.
– I would like to spend time with my grand-kids, investing in their lives and getting to know who they are and enjoy watching the next generation grow up.
– I want to be a gracious women, one who is able to love from her heart, care for those who come through my door and extend grace to all even when I don’t agree with their choices.
– I want to grow old with Keith, enjoying our marriage and having our marriage be a blessing to those who are around us.
– I would like to travel
– I want to still be laughing, a lot, and always at myself when I mess up.
I’m sure I have more, but the coffee hasn’t kicked in and my brain doesn’t function the same in the summer when all I think about is menu’s, ordering food, numbers for the week, etc…
Kelly
ps my daughter is coming home from Minneapolis today. She went with a friend for her 13th birthday present from us. If we are ever down there as a family, I’ll let you know.
Mom says
August 3, 2011 at 3:03 am“Grandma Gretchen”? Wow, that phrase freaked me out! 🙂 You have wonderful dreams and I hope they all come true!
Singing Pilgrim says
August 3, 2011 at 5:17 amI don’t have kids yet. I’ve found the man, but he’s in India and I’m in the US and we’re not married yet (soon! cries our hearts, but it’s in God’s hands) and so my dreams are about when I do have kids and am married, not about after that’s over. I see my friend’s kids and my heart cries out. I see toys or games or tv shows and I think “Would I let them play with that? Would I let them watch that?” I go shopping with a friend and she picks up a pack of diapers and I think “Will I go for the cheap ones? The organic ones? The cloth ones? Or the normal disposible ones like my friend?” (I go back and forth). I imagine what my husband and my first apartment will look like. We talk about whether we’ll be in India (probably at first) or the US, if we’ll live in the country (like I do now), the city (like he always has but I never have), or a small town (like where I was born) or a suburb? Will we live closer to the mountains (his love) or the ocean (mine) or somewhere far from both? I dream about homeschooling. I know I want to ‘grow up’ to be a homeschool mom. How will I do things? That’s a fun game, especially since I know I really have no idea because it’ll really depend on my children’s personalities and my resources and there’s no way to know that. Will we have a boy or a girl first? Will we have he or she biologically or will we adopt first? (I want both adopted and biological kids. He wants biologically first, and I think that’s fine. But we’ve agreed if we try for a couple years and haven’t gotten pregnant, we’ll adopt first.) I wonder how many kids we’ll end up having. We talk about 4-5, but maybe it’ll be 2, maybe it’ll be 8 or more! God alone knows, and we trust Him. (We really don’t want less than two though. I can’t imagine not having siblings, and he’s an only child and always ached to have one.)
I know it’s not exactly the type of dreaming you’re doing, but I thought I’d share. 🙂 Also, one of the reasons I read your blog and others is exactly because I am dreaming about this. It’s encouraging to read about your family. Not only because you’re awesome, but to learn from you and other moms, so I’m working on being a better mom before I even get there.
Heidi says
August 3, 2011 at 4:24 pmI keep reading the last one over and over again about our little NY trip. We’ll have to make it work. We’ll just have to.