A busy beginning and an emotional ending...

Sarah was over yesterday along with our friend Amanda and all three of us spent the day feverishly working on our grocery store client projects. It was nice working with Amanda again, but the work environment is quite different now. The three of us never dreamed that we would be working together at my kitchen table with our laptop computers typing merrily away! Sarah and I usually sit across the table from each other with our laptops, and to me that picture makes it looks as if we're playing a serious game of Battleship which makes me chuckle!

Monday's we work separately at home which means I work by myself at the corporate office. Thankfully I had the opportunity to switch gears and work on a Phase I Assessment report for another client which turned into a day long report marathon. I'm tired but pleased because I managed to get the first draft completed in one day and I expected it to take me two days.

This afternoon I was reminded of one of the many benefits of working at home when Nickolas started chatting with me while he worked on his homework. It used to be that the boys would start their serious discussions with me when we were driving somewhere. I don't know what it was about the car, but they almost always reserved their serious discussions while driving someplace. I think perhaps because I wasn't looking directly at them and the atmosphere was relaxed that they felt comfortable in broaching a sticky topic. Now that they're older I don't shuttle them around nearly as much and so there haven't been as many opportunities for the serious talks in the car.

Today was a pleasant surprise as I worked away at my computer until the discussion became more serious so I stopped my work for a bit to listen and talk. I was reminded today while talking with Nickolas that as much as you try to shield your kids from certain things, they still manage to pick up on stuff with their kid radar. The conversation meandered and took a couple of unexpected turns and wound up on the topic of the future. I was impressed by Nickolas' thoughtful questions and his blossoming maturity. Toward the end of the conversation things got quite emotional which alternated with him having tears in his eyes to my own tears. I think that what made the conversation so good was that it was unplanned, and it was open and honest. At the end we both agreed that our impromptu talk was a good thing, and I asked Nickolas to come talk to me more often about his worries. It was definitely a profound parent-child moment that I hope I remember always.

So now after a busy day and a wonderful talk, I'm emotionally wrung out. It was both easy and difficult, and I'd gladly do it all over again tomorrow. Well maybe not the report part!