Vacation Eve

Tomorrow, in the wee hours of the Pennsylvania morning, The Knucklehead and I will drive to the airport and fly west, for a week’s vacation in Seattle, just we two. My Bride will whisk us off with her best wishes, remaining homebound to see to the dogs, and perhaps enjoy the sudden drop in testosterone on the homefront.*

My boy and I are going to enjoy an unstructured and (largely) unscheduled week pretending we are smart, sophisticated urban left-coasters. We’ll be staying at a fancy-pants hotel right downtown, within easy walking and biking distance of, well, Seattle. We will see the sights, we will taste the tastes, we will walk the walks. But mostly, we will lean and loaf (to take a leaf from Whitman). After taking a summer university course while working 40 hours a week (along with umpiring the odd Little League game), Knucks is ready to dive into some pleasure reading. As am I. Some of our ease we’ll take together. Some we’ll take apart, meeting up at the end of the day.

Besides the reading I want to do, I want to do some writing. So I’m going to do something different with The Gentleman Knucklehead this week. I’m going to make nightly blog posts, documenting our week together. It’ll be an experiment, and I’m going to do this for three reasons, two of them self-indulgent.

First, I want to spend a week committing myself to regular writing. Since I’m better at keeping promises to others than to myself, I’ll promise you, dear reader, that I’ll be here all week. I’ve been away for a while, for a number of reasons, but mostly from a lack of self-confidence. Time to get back on the horse.

Secondly, I feel like I’m at a sort of turning point with my son, and that this will be something of a landmark vacation. I want to document it as it happens, not so much for him, not so much for you, but for me. I’d like to mark this one as it’s happening, so I’ll have it for later. More on this later this week.

And the non-self-indulgent reason? Some of my readers are parents of young children. I’d like to give you a glimpse of what you’re working toward, the payoff. Parenthood is fun, but it’s also a job. It’s a weight of responsibility. I’d like to give some of my readers a preview of life after the weight begins lifting. Knucks is beginning to step into adult territory, which means I’m entering new territory as a parent. I don’t have to watch my child so critically, so urgently any more. I can lean back and observe the man emerging. Enjoy the harvest, so to speak.

I think that would be an interesting perspective for a young parent.

For now, I’ve got to pack the car, go through my lists, and try to get to bed early. Not that I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight, anyway.

Because tonight it’s Christmas Eve, and I’m a little kid.

I’ll report back to you tomorrow night, Seattle time.

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*And, relax, I’ll do the same for her later in the summer. Kenneling our unruly (and aging) pack is something we save for special occasions.