What is the norm?

I had a very good day. I jogged with Sofia for 20 min, did 30 min upper body workout, mediated a bit, planned the day in the journal before I turned out work laptop. Maybe it’s the pausing and self care that kicked off the day in the right mode. Then I was super productive work wise. I got two new tasks, totally unrelated with my current work, so I was a bit nervous. Yet, when I started reading about it (Mali) I couldn’t stop. By the end of the day, I know about Mali more than I ever imagined. Maybe it’s the learning about a new subject that turned a special zone in my brain that made me feel extra excited.

After work, I had an early dinner (5pm), as my bed time lately has been 8:30pm so wanted to have enough time for digestion. Sofia was still in Kumon class and Lizzy just finished her mandarin lesson, so I invited her for a walk. We went to buy some groceries. During the walk, she asked me why grandma doesn’t live with us? My mom took care of both Sofia and Lizzy when they were babies, and lived with me for years in the US. Now that we are in Manila, she went back to Shanghai to enjoy her retirement life. Yet, to Sofia and Lizzy, living with grandma is how they came to this world, and they think that should be the norm and wonder why grandma is no longer with us. I told her that she enjoys life in Shanghai with her friends. Then I asked Lizzy; will you want me to live with you forever? She affirmably said yes. I asked her why, she said because I can take care of you. She said it without hesitation as it’s the most natural thing to say/do. It melted my heart.

I am still early to plan for my retirement. I don’t know if I even want to live with the girls forever, will I and hubby want to enjoy our retirement alone? traveling around the world? instead of taking care of grand kids? But would it be also good to be part of girls life in a daily basis? I don’t know. In Asian culture, it is very common that 3 generations live together. I know in western culture kids are out of the house at 18 and never go back. Mmmmm…… at least I got the invitation (from a 5 years old) so I will have the option to choose 😀

Good news: birthday gifts for hubby arrived!!! Now we have 3 gifts for him. I only need to decide on the cake 🙂