Back to "normal"

So here I am, back to "normal".  After three months of unemployment John is back to work today at a great new job in the city.  No more "Mr Mom".  Suddenly I am in charge of taking the kids to school again, picking them up, organizing their lunches, doing the laundry.  I was supposed to work today but Ella is sick.  A week ago I wouldn't have had to worry about it because John would have been here to stay home with her, but here I am, scrambling to reschedule my appointments and doing all the things that I normally would have done three months ago. 

What is normal, anyway?  I always wondered if John and I would get on each other's nerves if he ever became temporarily unemployed.  I wondered if having him around all the time would be too much.  After three months I've realized that it was not too much.  It was great.  I used to laugh when John would say how great it would be if he could work from home.  I'd say, no way, we'd kill each other!  We'd get on each other's nerves.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, etc., etc.  But now I'm thinking, hey!  I wouldn't mind having him home after all.  Who says that couldn't be our "normal"?

Today I was cleaning out Jack's lunch bag from yesterday, John's last official day at home.  John made the kids lunches yesterday and when I was emptying the lunch bag I found a note he'd written to Jack.  It said "I hope you don't get a case of the Mondays."  I almost fell on the floor laughing.  Then I felt a little sad.  I rarely put notes in their lunch bags.  This is something simple and fun that John did for them that I hardly ever do.  Will they miss those special lunches now that he's back at work?  Will they open their bags and feel disappointed because Mom made the lunch and not only is it a boring lunch, but there's NO NOTE???  What pressure.  I'm starting to re-think my whole routine of doing things.  Is John's way better, or is it just different?  Is normal good or do we occasionally need to shake things up a little?

Having John home for those months was a wonderful gift.  It showed me that I'm not the only one who can take care of things around the house, or do special things for the kids, or cook a good dinner every night.   My kids are so lucky, not just because they have two parents who love them, but because they got a brief chance to see their dad in a different light. 

So I won't say "Good-bye, Mr. Mom" because he's not really gone.  He's just off to a new "normal" and so are the rest of us.