As I walked through the grocery isle with my 18 month old son, discussing coffee and the finer points of its history and social importance in our culture it occurred to me that I need more adult conversation.
Not that I didn’t think that my son was worthy of this important bonding time, I just don’t think at his age he gives a hill of beans that even though darker roast coffee has a richer flavor it is in fact lower in the content of the all important caffeine component, as the caffeine is literally “burnt off” in the roasting process.
It occurred to me that perhaps this conversation, often interrupted by him throwing items out of the cart or randomly pulling them off of the nearest shelves and throwing them into the cart; “no thanks G…we don’t really need any orange marmalade today”, that I don’t have the chance…EVER…to just sit and chat aimlessly anymore about anything to any adult anywhere…
In college there were countless hours spent at coffee shops solving the world’s problems, amidst the occasional bout of studying. There were the hours spent on a barstool chatting up with good friends about all of the things we would do once we had our degrees in hand. There was the wonderful time my wife and I used to spend talking about all of the what-ifs ahead of us, before the kids and work zapped every last ounce of energy from us and left us with the ability to barely produce a half-hearted “G’night honey” before rolling over and passing out.
Yes, life as a 30 something father of 3 just doesn’t include enough opportunity to talk about meaningless topics to adults in meaningful ways. It’s something that will change, I know. It is seasonal. It too shall pass and there will come a time when I will have so much time to chat that I may actually run out of things to talk about…
Unlikely…but hey, so were all of the solutions to the world’s problems…until then, the kids will just have to put up with the occasional lecture about things not pertaining to them... and long drawn out stories about way back in the day, when their daddy was cool and the conversations were plenty.
My cat has taken to rolling his eyes when I begin a conversation with him. He's my best little buddy, but, like a child, he doesn't really get the finer points of conversing and rhetoric. I'm lucky if he burps in my face or rolls over for a belly scratch! As you said, though, one day soon we'll so much time for conversation, we may even run out of things to say. Here's hoping... In the meantime, feel free to call whenever you're looking for an ear to bend! ;)Rebecca
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