Part I

As I was lying in bed this morning and contemplating the day I had an epiphany:

I am no longer a mother. You see, the term mother conjures a picture of a woman caring for young children, and meeting their basic needs with love. My children are old enough that they no longer need me to meet those basic needs, and they know I love them. Hypothetically, I could stay in bed all day and they'd be fine. Except I already finished the Twilight series and I don't have any unread books in the house, so what would I do all day?

So, if I get out of bed (and I really don't want to because it's COLD and even though the furnace is merrily pumping out heat there is still a chill in the air) and my mothering services are not required, then what is my role? And that is how, as I sat propped against my fluffy, warm pillows on a frigid January morning, the epiphany came:

I am no longer a mother. I am a cruise director.

I was seriously weighing the pros and cons of taking the day off, but the epiphany was just what I needed to get moving. I vaulted out of bed and googled cruise director so that I could validate my conclusion, and what I found was, well, shocking.

I'll be back later to share my discovery. Once I got out of bed reality kicked in and now I'm off to the YMCA for swimming...