When people say things like “go big or go home,” all I can think is please don’t threaten me with a good time. I would love nothing more than to go home. I would also prefer to stay there.
When I was a teenager, the prospect of an entire weekend or vacation day “staying home” seemed dismal. It was a dire emergency if I didn’t have weekend plans.
I needed to get out and stay out, have fun, see and be seen. I went roller skating, ice skating, ambling aimlessly around downtown, to the mall or to the theater to see a movie I didn’t even care to see just to get out of the house. These were all viable ways to pass the time.
What I did NOT want to do was sit at home. THAT was “loser” territory. No, thank you.
Unwanted tasks
On a related note, if I did get caught staying home, I could never ever express that I was bored. My mother delighted in offering to curb boredom with a not-so-delightful array of household tasks.
It should be noted that I loathed chores of any kind. I think that this is a requirement of all teenagers? I’m sure somewhere there are “neat freak” teens who delight in cleaning and organizing. I, however, was not one of them.
I was the teen who rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically if asked to do a few chores on a day off. I could put off a 20-minute cleaning task all day long.
Sometimes I didn’t spring into action until the end of a business day. Hearing my mother’s car in the driveway was all I needed to find the motivation to do the dishes or wipe down a bathroom. Procrastination was my superpower.
I just knew that when I grew up, I would go to the mall whenever I felt like it, stay out really late and never wash a dish.
Now that I’m a full-fledged adult, at least according to my driver’s license, I could not have been more wrong.
One of my favorite things to do is spend an entire day at home. I’m thrilled to be presented a whole day spent doing what I call “puttering.” I clean. I organize. I might work on a paint or furniture refinishing project.
My “to-do” list is so different from my teen list. Teenage me could barely stand to wipe a mirror. Now, I consider it quite exciting to spend an entire Saturday organizing a closet. For real.
New love
Do not even get me started on how much I like to mow. I never mowed a lawn growing up. I don’t mean that in the way of “I rarely did.” I mean I never, ever, not even once mowed a lawn.
Growing up, it was just my mother and me, so we divided the chores. Despite my eye-rolling, I was, at heart, indoorsy and would choose to run the vacuum or clean bathrooms rather than do anything outside.
My outside duties were basically to lay out on a lounge chair, cover myself in baby oil, and work on giving myself sun damage I would regret three decades later. At no time did I mow.
Now one of my favorite hobbies, if you can call it that, is to get my headphones on, fire up a podcast (I prefer true crime) and mow the yard.
On that note, I am listening to true crime stories so do NOT sneak up on me while I am mowing. I will ninja kick a person who tries.
Driving around in circles bothering the grass while listening to my “stories” (Hi, I’m 80!) is one of my favorite things.
I am officially old and I am perfectly fine with that.
Rite of passage
BoyWonder, a newly minted homeowner and former social butterfly, is coming of age as well.
Recently, he spent his first day off in ages repairing his lawn mower. He had it running just in time to spend his next day off mowing his lawn.
It’s a regular rite of passage. One moment you’re planning your next fun adventure, and the next you’re pleased to have knocked out some maintenance before it rains.
Welcome to adulthood, son! It’s a lot of fun even if we don’t go out much.
