The Best Family Nights are on Two Wheels

Several years ago I wrote a column called “The Best Dates are Spent on Two Wheels.” It was about how Tom and I used to take our motorcycle out on dates when the kids were little. Back then the motorcycle was our getaway from hectic mom and dad stuff that we did. It was kind of our ‘taking a break from the kids’ time alone together. We were deep into the midst of 4H soccer, play dates and all of the business that goes with raising kids.  Now our kids are grown up and instead of wanting time away, we desperately cling to any time we can get with them. The rare evening when everyone is home AND in the same room together is pure happiness for us. The kids have their own interests so it was starting to feel like they had left the nest before they even left the nest. Jobs and responsibilities and active social lives mean they’re gone more then they’re home. I find myself longing for the days of sitting in the bleachers all day and of being needed but at the same time get incredibly annoyed when this grown man says “Mom, what’s for dinner?  I’m hungry!” as he flies in the door to drop stuff off and grab something to eat on his way to the next thing. It won’t be long until my boys, now men, will be moved out and gone and I’ve worried that we won’t get together to just do stuff. It doesn’t seem normal but we haven’t really had common interests with our kids. This one likes music, that one likes sports, and Tom and I like motorcycles. We’ve never been a board game family or a family movie night family. We’ve just always kind of gravitated towards different things.  It’s not bad. It’s just us. As I was just starting to accept that that was “just the way it is,” they got motorcycles. Both of them. Suddenly what was once a Tom and I without the kids thing became a Tom and I with the kids thing. It’s Tom and the boys in the garage together tinkering on their bikes. They talk about modifications and motors. They take off together for a ride around the lake. Even I get to be a part of the fun because I have my own bike too. I’m really looking forward to this summer when we can take a ride up 119 together as a family and have dinner at the Leggs Inn. Just me and my favorite guys. I guess the best family nights are spent on two wheels.