A new perspective on things

I'm emailing today with a friends of mine. He's childless, lives with a girlfriend. I hadn't heard from him in a while, and it turns out he'd been on vacation for two weeks. So I ask what he's been doing, and he enthuses about how much FUN it was, and how they did a new FUN thing every day and how GREAT it was and how bummed he is to be back at work.

And I'm intrigued. Because I have no idea what fun looks like to a childfree person any more, and I ask: more details, please. Just what are these fun activities??

And he says:

* visited parents

* went hiking

* went swimming

* went kite flying

* picnicked in the park

* went to the beach

* went to the petting zoo

* went to local Vancouver museums / attractions

And I thought ... this is your vacation? This is what The Man and I do every weekend because we need SOMETHING to keep this child busy and entertained. Seriously, we went kite flying three weeks ago; parks are a weekly (or more) activity, as are beaches. Picnicking is usual just because we eat so often. Swimming at the pool is a regular thing, and GOD KNOWS we visit my parents a lot because THEY BABYSIT.

And then I think: those are the types of things that as a childfree person I thought were fun. And then I think: what the heck did I DO when I didn't have a kid, because I certainly wasn't doing those things all the time, because they were a relative novelty.

Perhaps it is now that I do them all the time that they aren't novel, just every day activities with a kid. Perhaps it is a good thing that I'm now living life more than ever before, because I have a kid who wants to get out! and do things! and experience things! Maybe this is what's meant by living life over with a child, seeing things his or her way, and how your life is enriched with meaning once you become a parent because you are living so much more than before.

......

And perhaps it's also why, when The Man and I have vacation days coming up, we'll be taking The Boy to daycare and then sitting motionless on the couch for eight hours a day.