A Mama’s Vacation

Last week, I had my first vacation in 5 1/2 years. I think most Mamas would agree that a ‘vacation’ to the beach, or to Disneyland, or to wherever, really isn’t a vacation if little kiddos are involved. It may be fun and it may be different from the norm, but its not a ‘vacation’.  Because we’re still on duty.  We still have to be Mama, and when we’re out of our comfort zone, in a new place, things are often times more stressful than when we’re at home. 

But last week, Matt, Kaden and I came home from the Beach House and Gage and Cooper stayed with Grammie.  Until Thursday. I’m not sure if my mom offered to have the boys in order to 1) Bless me with a break… 2) Bless herself with time with her grandsons… or 3) Bless the boys with a great time.  Whatever her motivation, I think we all won.  

So, from Monday until Thursday…

I had milkshakes in the middle of the day.

I had chicken nuggets for breakfast.

I scrapbooked 7 pages.

I blogged and edited and enjoyed time online. 

I had alone time with Kaden.

I didn’t wake up to pounding and stomping feet.

I had uninterrupted conversations with my husband.

I watched Food Network without pleas for Curious George.

I didn’t trip over kids while trying to walk across the room.

I didn’t discipline.

I didn’t break up fights.

I didn’t cook dinner (Matt acknowledged my vacation-time)

I didn’t clean (no munckins to make messes)

I leisurely showered (and shaved my legs and it wasn’t even Saturday!)

I went on 2 long walks with Matt and we talked… again, without interruption…

 

Of course, I could never have appreciated such freedoms when I only had one child.  I had all these luxuries, but when I only had Gage, I felt like I had the weight of the world on me.  But going from 3 to 1?  Vacation. And for that matter, I didn’t really enjoy these luxuries before having any kids either, because all I could think about was wanting kids. I think from the moment we returned from our honeymoon, Matt heard me say “Hus-bie, I wanna bay-bie…” every single day.

Relativity is a funny, funny thing. 

Anyway, Kaden was in on spoiling me, too… he took LONG naps each day, further allowing me precious quiet time.  Probably because there was no one yelling or blowing in the duck call or running into his door, while he slept.

And while all the free-time I had was great, one of the best things about having Gage and Cooper gone was missing them.  As a stay-at-home-mom, I rarely feel like I get to that point. I looked forward to talking to them on the phone and to hear about their adventures.  I loved imagining Gage using his hands to animate while describing the huge clam he dug up on the beach and Cooper looking up and to the side with his big blue eyes while trying to remember if he was being a good boy for Grammie. 

I won’t candy-coat it and say that I longed for their return each moment of everyday that they were away… I really, REALLY liked the break.

I look at it like this… I love to cook, but sometimes I really just want to have Pasta Roni for, like, 3 nights in a row.  The simplicity, the easy preparation and clean-up; very desirable. For a short time, that’s great, but soon, I crave the depth and richness of a slow-cooked Bolognese.  Or the challenge and complexity of Chicken Parmesan with a White Wine and Cream sauce.  Those recipes are more difficult and take more work, but the result?  So much tastier and the reward much greater, than the ease of a boxed meal. 

So, I find that it is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or at least it allows time for Mama’s head to clear of frustrated clutter, so she can regain appreciation for her kids.