My kids never seem to sit still. They’re always on the go, and I shouldn’t act surprised. It’s the way the Hectic Household has always been. We’re always running around for sports, for school, for jobs. For whatever. It’s a never ending cycle of getting on the road, going somewhere, and doing something.

For a few short weeks, we had a pretty full house. My two recent college graduates were home. For a few days my high school graduate was home. Our college-aged daughter was here. The high school kids were here for the summer. Our elementary school-aged daughter was here. Only our oldest daughter wasn’t home.

Then the Bike Across Kansas started and I traveled across the state with one daughter. Another went to Kansas Girls State. My oldest son went to Basic Training. When we got back from BAK, things were a little quieter, but it was still Hectic.

We’ve entered the middle of the summer, and things are even quieter. One daughter is traveling across the Western part of the country on an adventure to see places like Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and the like. She’s traveling with a very fluid plan that includes a lot of camping. Definitely a new adventure for her!

Her sister just left to go collect the last of there things from Colorado, say some final goodbyes to friends, and squeeze in a volleyball tournament during the trip. She’ll be back in a few days, but then I’ll be leaving for New Jersey.

In the meantime, another daughter will be heading to American University in Washington, D.C. for a ten day leadership conference. Then we’ll meet her oldest sister in New Jersey for a few days together.

We’ll follow that up with a relocation of at least two of the older girls, and possibly three. And the return to school in Maine of our Junior in college. We’ll be driving across the country for that return, so it’ll be an adventure unto itself.

A few days later Basic Training graduation will occur for our oldest son, and then he’ll ship to Texas for Advanced Individual Training.

At that point we’ll have one back in college, one in Texas for AIT, one in Minnesota, one in NJ, one still a bit up in the air as to exactly where she’s going to be living, a high school Senior (who will start school in the midst of all the travel & Basic Training graduation), a high school sophomore, and a sixth grader.

Yeah, pretty much par for the Hectic Family.

But the point is, I wish I’d done a better job taking advantage of the time while everybody was here. This opportunities are so infrequent now. We still try to eat together, but with school, jobs, and all the activities that we have it’s even hard to do that. We have done a better job of sitting around the table after meals and just talking. The subject matter is pretty far-ranging in our household, and lots of visitors think we’re totally crazy. They’re right of course, but we don’t mind being crazy. It makes for a more interesting life!

We’ve also done a lot more working out together. It’s not so much that we talk and such during our workouts, but we are spending more time together. And together in different combinations. When you have as many people in one household as we do, the intra-family dynamics are pretty fascinating.

So, even as the kids are scattered around the country again, to congeal into a family unit for a few days, and then spread out once again, I’m thinking about the times we’ve had and the times ahead. While everybody is so far away, it makes me appreciate the times when we’re together and makes me realize how precious those are.

Give your kids a hug today if you can reach ‘em, if you can’t pick up the darned phone and call them. Talk to them. Tell ‘em you love ‘em.