You Have to Go Home Now

My sister came down here just before Christmas and has been here since then, living in our rather chilly basement in our rather uncomfortable-for-long-term-sleeping air mattress.

It has been so fun to have her here - someone to talk with when Paul is away for days - or weeks- on end. Someone to watch girly shows with. Someone to help me at the grocery store. Someone to watch the boys while Paul and I go out. Someone to help make meals, switch a load of laundry over or vacuum the floors.

Sometimes she makes me giggle to myself when she says "Wow - I just did the dishes and now there's more. This never ends." I know that feeling well. Only for the past 4 months I've had someone to share in all that and cut my work load in half and I have appreciated it so much.

The other day I realized that our boys don't remember a day when Aunt Essie didn't live in our basement. To them her living with us is as normal as bubbles in the bathtub or milk in your cereal.

I thought it was my motherly duty to warn them, particularly Judah, of her upcoming departure date - which is still a month away but I thought I should start early.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Judah, do you know Aunt Essie has to leave us in a month and go back to her house?"

Judah: "NO NO NO!! SHE CAN'T."

Me: "But she needs to. She lives in Canada with her mommy and daddy and they miss her and she needs to go back to live with them again."

Judah: "No! She can't leave me."

Me: "I know, it'll be so sad when she leaves, but you can talk to her on the phone and maybe we can go visit."

Judah didn't say anything more. 

Moments later I heard him in the other room talking to Esther. He said;

"Mommy said you have to go home now." 

Seriously. 

Don't ever take things my kids say I said literally.

Please.