Pretending to be a grown-up

Today is one of my favorite days of the month. I told my kidlets that tonight I get to pretend to be a grown-up. This confuses them, and it amuses me. But it does seem a fitting description to my stay-at-home self.

Tonight, I will kiss the family good-bye and run out to the car. I will get in the car without anyone fighting over who gets to sit behind Mommy. No one will be kicking the back of my seat as I drive. There will be no need for threats to "turn this car around right this minute if the fighting does not stop." There will be no shrieks loud enough to wake the dead if a deer walks near the edge of the road. I will not hear the words "I'm telling" even once. I can turn on the GPS (Earl, for those who remember) and actually hear his directions without little mocking voices laughing at me every time he recalculates. I do not have to keep looking in the child mirror to make sure seat belts have not been removed while the car is in motion. If I want to blast music from the soundtrack of Rent, I can do so. Heck, I can even sing along without some snide remark about my musical talents from a child who could not find the correct key if it hit her upside the head with a musical staff.

You see, I attend a book club. I actually get to read a book that has polysyllabic words. Every other sentence or phrase ending will not rhyme. The books might have the random picture or two, but the reader does not require them to understand the plot. There might be actual foreshadowing. There will be characters with or without depth and dimensionality, but none of them involve felines wearing headgear.

For a couple of hours, I will have the pleasure of sitting in a room with other adults. Kidlets might be involved for a brief howdy, but they are not mine and wind up going to bed immediately afterwards. Candles are often lit, providing me with the ability to enjoy their glow and faint scents without worrying who is going to bump the table or stick their fingers into the flame just because they wanted to see how hot it could get. Everyone brings a snack or two, and no one feels obligated to eat something just because a kidlet handed it to them and said they were full. The atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed. No one has to worry about keeping a question or comment G-rated. Indeed, some of the books themselves could not be read if that was a concern.

The other adults in the room, all women, are well-read individuals. They each have a distinct perspective on the book we have all read. We sometimes agree and sometimes disagree, but we each allow one another to have opinions that are not our own. Not all of us have finished the book in question, but we have the ability to banter about other subjects as well. Tangents are often encouraged, although it is probably more accurate to say we have each been guilty of creating those tangents from time to time. I find the other ladies to be quite intelligent, and hope against hope that I can keep up with their discussions sometimes. I come from a different educational background than they do, yet they have welcomed me into their group with open arms.

For this one night a month, I have the ability to be someone other than "Mom," "Mommy," or "Hon." I am Dragon once more. I am an individual. I have my own opinions, which I am free to verbalize. I can enjoy or loathe a book and no one thinks less of me for it. At least for this one night, I am me again.