“Bye, honey. It’s been a great summer having you home,” I told my daughter Saturday as she was getting into her car to drive back to Tuscaloosa to start her second year of college.
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll miss this house.”
“What? You’re never coming home again?,” I chuckled.
“Not to this house.”
Oh my gosh. She’s right. We are moving in a couple of months and Jill won’t be coming home again to her old room.
As melancholy as I am about my daughter returning for her second year of college, I’m also excited for her. And excited for us.
Andrew and I recently purchased a condo on the beach and after the summer rentals are finished, we will be renovating it to move in this Fall.
Most people I know do not embrace change as much as I do. As much as a pain in the behind that moving will be (we will be downsizing for the third time in five years!), I always find it exhilarating to shake my life up a bit. Kind of like hitting the reset button.
We all settle into a routine naturally which may or may not serve our best interests. A new environment has a way of giving you a fresh perspective on habits and routines that may not be serving you well.
For example, six years ago we were on vacation in Maine. The lake house was an amazing place to relax and decompress. During my quiet time I reflected on what routines were stressful in my life.
You know what came to mind first? Laundry, that’s what!
It seemed like I was washing a load of laundry every day and the kids were the worst culprits. Try on something once, change their mind, and throw it in the dirty laundry hamper.
Rather than continue to threaten and cajole them into hanging back up their perfectly clean clothes, or my having to smell everything in their hamper to discern what was clean or dirty (not fun with a preteen boy at the time let me tell you!), I came up with a brilliant idea. Are you ready for it?
Teach my kids how to wash their own clothes!
After all they were both in middle school and perfectly capable of learning how to operate the washer and dryer. Maybe it would teach them to actually hang back up their clean clothes. Regardless, though, I would not be the one having to deal with their voluminous laundry anymore.
The novelty wore off pretty quick for my kiddos doing their own laundry but I stuck by my guns. My kids have been doing their own laundry for six years now which served Jill well when she left for college last year.
Life moves on and sometimes you need to make changes in your life also if you want to grow and stay fulfilled.
So too your estate plan that you prepared ten years ago (you do have one, right?) probably doesn’t serve you perfectly anymore, if at all.
Reviewing your estate plan every 3-5 years is a good rule of thumb. We can help you review your plan to see if it still serves your interests.
Well, I’m happy to report that Jill made it back to Tuscaloosa to prepare for Rush, although this time on the other side as a sorority sister. She’s crashing at a friend’s house until her new apartment lease starts in a couple of weeks.
Although Jill may be living out of her suitcase for the next couple of weeks, at least I know she’s equipped with clean clothes!
Jill and her best friend, Christy, before heading back to college
Kristen “Sad Mama Again” Marks
