Playing Grown Up
Little girl playing dress up at teatime. Photo ℅ Jennifer Little of Sugar Photography When Husband and I were looking for a home to buy four and a half years ago, we found a wonderful old craftsman, lovingly restored and updated with plenty of space and a large yard in our coveted neighborhood, a suburb just a few stops from the city. While walking through the upstairs sunroom connecting two of the bedrooms, Husband said to me, “So, your mom will stay in that bedroom,” pointing to the door, “and then can hang out and read in this nice space,” gesturing to the sofa against the windows, “while the kids play,” motioning to the floor, “since they”ll probably share this other room,” pointing to the second adjacent bedroom. At the time of that conversation, we had a clear idea of what we wanted our future to be, and were planning to live in a way that would welcome and accommodate that vision. At the time, we were not expecting children, nor was my newly widowed mother even slightly …