Is It Wrong?

It's very quiet around the house this week. No, I haven't punctured my ear drums or dropped a couple hundred bucks on some sweet Bose noise canceling head phones. The cause of the quiet is the absence of "Daughter".

Sunday afternoon, "Wife" and I loaded "Daughter", a duffel bag full of clothes, a sleeping bag and a sense of adventure into the trusty Trailblazer and headed North to deposit her at Girl Scout camp. Daughter has been to camp before, but this one is all the way behind the "Cheese Curtain" in Wisconsin. After a two and a half hour drive punctuated by a run in with one of Wisconsin's finest ($211.20? Really? That will pay for a ton of curds Festus.) we arrived at camp. It's a beautiful, if rustic place, just how you'd imagine a camp to be if you ever were so hard up for an imaginary image that you allowed your mind to conjure the thought of a camp. "Daughter" will be sharing a tent with a couple of her friends about a hundred yards from a beautiful lake. She'll be going white water rafting and enjoying all the other traditional camp activities, such as avoiding being mauled by a wolverine and hiding from the hockey mask wearing, revenge seeking, machete wielding mother of a long since drowned boy. Ah, youth.

I should be a little jealous of "Daughter's" vacation in the wilderness, but I am not. What I am is really psyched about having a few days off from the non-stop job of parenting. If that seems harsh, then you're either not a parent or one of those Family Circus reading, Oprah watching, Brady bunch types who refuses to admit that sometimes, even the best, most loving parents need a break. If that's the case, write an angry letter to Parent's Magazine and try to have my parenthood papers revoked. To be honest, I've been conflicted about my enjoyment of a childless house. I love having "Daughter" around, and now that she's old enough to pick up after the dogs and do other chores, I'm starting to realize added benefits of child rearing, but I also enjoy being able to do what I want. Selfish? A little, but the sensation only lasts a week. That's what makes it palatable to me. I know that on Friday I'll be schlepping back over the border, loading up all her dirty, smelly gear and bringing her back where she belongs. In the meantime, "Wife" and I enjoyed a few dinners out, a bottle of wine and some leisurely activities without any parental responsibilities. Would we want that all the time? It depends on what day you ask us, but I think I can safely say the answer is no. We will enjoy the hell out of the next few days though.

Here's something I haven't written in a while. I'll be doing some stand-up this week. If you're in the South Bend/Mishawaka, IN metroplex this week you can catch me at the Funny Bone. I'll be there tonight, Thursday and Sunday at 7:30 pm EST. It's a great club and I haven't been there in ages. I'm looking forward to "hitting the boards" and doing some live, non FCC regulated comedy. Later...Brian