Post-pandemic life is hardly back to normal

I braced myself for plenty as I walked through our front door.

Just not this.

Months ago, Husband and I ran away to another house four hours away.

This means our two 20-something daughters have our “real” house to themselves.

Not a bad deal for them, living rent-free as one takes on her first full-time job and the other one finishes up her junior year of college.

This week it was time to visit. There were some things I expected such as moldy, ancient bags of take-out food shoved in the back of the fridge and bathrooms that hadn’t been scrubbed since the spring equinox.

And yes, there were signs that the younger one’s boyfriend had pretty much moved in for the second half of spring semester.

We were actually fine with that.

The three of them did a pretty good job looking after each other.

Plus, we adore him.

I smiled looking around the empty house. “If this is the worst that happened while the parents were away…”

Which is about when I let out a scream.

Thanks to the surprise waiting for me in the den.

A two-foot long aquarium with a heat lamp on top and all sorts of rocks and foliage creeping around inside.

The story came flooding back. How last year, Darling Boyfriend kept a snake in his dorm room.

I whipped out my phone and texted Daughter and Boyfriend.

“Did I unknowingly adopt another child?” I asked, including a distanced photo of the aquarium.

“Um, someone’s favorite ‘son’ couldn’t fit the tank in his car when he moved out of his dorm to go home for the summer,” Daughter replied.

Boyfriend weighed in with a couple of “oops” style emojis.

“Sooo, I didn’t look too closely,” I dared to ask. “What exactly is in this certain tank?”

As I was conjuring up images of a saber-tooth python direct from an Amazon jungle, Boyfriend sent a photo of a little yellow crawly thing on his hand.

“Only the cutest gecko ever,” he wrote. “His name is Diego.” I do have to admit.

The little guy is pretty cute. I’m finding it next to impossible to be mad or put a gecko in need out on the streets.

Daughter swears she has the whole thing handled, worm food and all.

They knew who they were dealing with.

Biggest softy ever when it comes to taking in dogs, threelegged cats, chickens, human children, and yes, now a yellow gecko.

I share to say, add it to the life I didn’t expect to be living. You, too, Dear Reader? Forget the pandemic year being crazy, are you, too, discovering a wacky new normal?

And I share to say, I actually haven’t seen the gecko. The kids swear he’s still in the tank.

If you see a little yellow spotted guy who looks lost, you’ll let me know.

We’ll want to bring him back home.

Where he belongs.