When my kids were young, as I was waking at dawn to tap a vein for coffee, starting thereafter to attend to all of their needs, my body was busy, but my mind set adrift to the future. Wiping behinds, pouring milk, cleaning up toys and making snacks, I wondered what life would be like when they all were older and wearing their yoke of independence. I guess I had hoped that I would be different from all of the other moms in the world...my kids would grow into those idyllic kind you see on TV, and appreciate me for all that I do for them. Life is not an after school special and when the pre-teen-angst-axis shifts, (I literally just got chills) you contemplate how much time you wasted wondering, when you could have learned Farsi. You suddenly realize, you've hit the "hormonal highway to hell"...again.
At first I thought it was just exhaustion, maybe they were overtired or even coming down with a bug of some sort. Then the eye rolling began, followed by the lack of following directions, lastly the dramatic stare that stood for something or other...I fell for that trick the first time on my hormonal highway to hell. It was when I said, "Stop acting like a dip-shit," while it was under my breath, I heard it and I knew...we're there, again. It's all starting over again. While the view is different, it smells the same. I've done this once, I can do it again? That really shouldn't be a question as I have to do it three more times, but my inner monologue is a little judgy at times. Sometimes when I think of the hormonal road ahead, I wish I could develop a more atune case of Stockholm syndrome, at least until they're 18. While I will always love my kids, I don't always have to love my captors.
So, flushed with fear and loathing, not really sure if I'm referring to myself or my offspring, I head out armed and hopefully ready for the road ahead. Hey, what about a vacation? It's been years since we've had a vacation, even longer the kind where I don't have to do anything but just show up. Wouldn't it be great to take the kids on our honeymoon? That should have been a trick question, but we're making it one big family festivity. The packing began, much to the amusement of my husband, about 3 weeks ago. Living in the frozen tundra of the Midwest, when would these kids be needing shorts? Then came all of the questions...why do we have to pack that? Why would we need that? Why would we care what you pack, just do it for us. All the while, as I'm trying to maintain my composure, reminding myself that I will be sunning myself and doing absolutely nothing in the near future, I start having flashbacks. It's like PTSD, but a special kind only mothers have with whiny voices and arguments...THERE'S NO WHINING IN PARADISE?!?! I have been known to mention to my kids that they could go off and live with the Amish, but saying that in Mexico, no Bueno. Who am I kidding? I'll be grateful to just get through the airport.
I'm hoping the fresh warm air of some far off destination will change everyone's mindset, mannerisms and mood swings. I'm hoping some vitamin D, lack of electronics, beautiful scenery and possibly a very large cocktail with an umbrella in it, will at least once again align us where the winter season had us in mental fisticuffs at times. I'm excited and planning on taking a much needed detour from the hormonal highway to hell, anyone who isn't interested can swim home.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
...to Graduates, Middle Age and Bucket Lists
It's funny what comes with an upcoming road trip with four kids. The lists have started. The laundry is being washed as we speak. The mental time tables have been made, and we're still a mere seven days out from leaving. The amount of junk that I have piled up in the corner of my room would get me a guest spot on the Dr. Phil Show or at least a prime time spot on the TV show Hoarders. Nearly 13 years I have been traveling with kids to Indiana or destinations beyond. Why is it still an assemblage of cringe just to leave the driveway?
This trip is not necessarily like others we have taken. There will be family, friends and memories to be made, but there will be celebrations. My niece, whom it seems like yesterday she was born, is graduating from high school. I am beyond grateful to be her aunt, noting quite often that I'm not necessarily cool enough to be related. She is this amazing young woman with an awe inspiring drive and sense of adventure and she will no doubt turn this world on its ear. She is wise beyond her years and brimming with the ability to discuss/debate/inform on any topic, and she's not yet 18 years old. It has been an honor to watch her grow up, but the next scene of her life will inspire me and no doubt all of those to which she comes into contact. She and I share the same first name, and I marvel at her thirst for wanderlust. Katherine Grace, I cannot wait to see where life takes you.
This trip is also a celebration of sisterhood, friendship and family. My sister Kelley, is nine years older than me. We shared a room and a bed for the first 10 years of life. She saw me through bed wetting, bras, periods, fashion mishaps and subliminally taught be every song created from 1980-1986. Other than my mom, she has been the other woman I have been blessed to look up to, draw advice from and emulate, if at all possible. She bought me my first album, Huey Lewis and the News, Sports. She took me to my first concert, Chaka Kahn. While she might be turning a very pronounced 50 years old, in my eyes she is still 18, teaching me about green M&Ms, telling me the best way to wrap a class ring and making friendship pins on our stunning rainbow shag carpet in our room at 153 Washington Street.
Sometimes you are lucky enough to find friends you consider family, and the luck comes in the idea that they aren't actually related to you, yet they still claim you. I am blessed with my friend April, of whom I met at the age of 17, on the other side of the world, and we have been friends ever since. While I have worn the "40 Year Young" sash for longer than she, we are heading out to cross off an item on her bucket list. A full on, over the top, blow out, 3 day extravaganza declaring to anyone who is crazy enough to put up with us, "Make 40 Fierce!" I am imagining it akin to Thelma and Louise, except no one dies at the end. Our last no kid, south of the Mason/Dixon Line adventure was far too long ago, we owe it not only to ourselves, but let's face it the world. My goals are to laugh, enjoy a cocktail, tell stories, soak up the sun and make memories with a person that I am REALLY GOOD at making memories with.
For the first time ever, Nora is spending nearly a month away from home. Her brothers are going to camp for a week, and really needed some such adventure of her own. She is heading up to stay with my parents, which is right up her alley as it is a whole new audience to try out her already worn out material that we get to see. She thankfully let me pack her bag for her, as her notion of "hobo-chic" is not something I want shared with the world. Every time she talks to my mom, there are new and wondrous adventures that they have planned with her while she is there. I'm curious if she'll even want to come home. She has to be excited to get some one-on-one time as that is somewhat of a rarity around here. My hope is that any bad manners that I'm trying to get her to stop doing, will be taken care of by July 1. However, I'm sure by then she'll have developed a longing for MASH reruns and nightly popcorn snacks. TOTALLY WORTH IT!
This summer we have a lot to celebrate from beautiful women to bucket lists! I am grateful that I get the chance to take my kids to see their Indiana family, as it doesn't happen every year. My hope that no matter how our two-state-away-stay-cation goes, we can make memories, have fun and get out of the norm if just for a little while. I realize my nostalgia is getting ahead of myself, knowing they'll no doubt remember is the things that go wrong, or they time I yelled at a Burger King Drive-Thru for no other reason than exhaustion...yes, I speak from experience. My wish is that they can see the quality time verses the quantity and take one minute of the entire trip and know that if it weren't for me, the 10 day trip would be really uncomfortable if someone hadn't packed their underwear.
This trip is not necessarily like others we have taken. There will be family, friends and memories to be made, but there will be celebrations. My niece, whom it seems like yesterday she was born, is graduating from high school. I am beyond grateful to be her aunt, noting quite often that I'm not necessarily cool enough to be related. She is this amazing young woman with an awe inspiring drive and sense of adventure and she will no doubt turn this world on its ear. She is wise beyond her years and brimming with the ability to discuss/debate/inform on any topic, and she's not yet 18 years old. It has been an honor to watch her grow up, but the next scene of her life will inspire me and no doubt all of those to which she comes into contact. She and I share the same first name, and I marvel at her thirst for wanderlust. Katherine Grace, I cannot wait to see where life takes you.
This trip is also a celebration of sisterhood, friendship and family. My sister Kelley, is nine years older than me. We shared a room and a bed for the first 10 years of life. She saw me through bed wetting, bras, periods, fashion mishaps and subliminally taught be every song created from 1980-1986. Other than my mom, she has been the other woman I have been blessed to look up to, draw advice from and emulate, if at all possible. She bought me my first album, Huey Lewis and the News, Sports. She took me to my first concert, Chaka Kahn. While she might be turning a very pronounced 50 years old, in my eyes she is still 18, teaching me about green M&Ms, telling me the best way to wrap a class ring and making friendship pins on our stunning rainbow shag carpet in our room at 153 Washington Street.
Sometimes you are lucky enough to find friends you consider family, and the luck comes in the idea that they aren't actually related to you, yet they still claim you. I am blessed with my friend April, of whom I met at the age of 17, on the other side of the world, and we have been friends ever since. While I have worn the "40 Year Young" sash for longer than she, we are heading out to cross off an item on her bucket list. A full on, over the top, blow out, 3 day extravaganza declaring to anyone who is crazy enough to put up with us, "Make 40 Fierce!" I am imagining it akin to Thelma and Louise, except no one dies at the end. Our last no kid, south of the Mason/Dixon Line adventure was far too long ago, we owe it not only to ourselves, but let's face it the world. My goals are to laugh, enjoy a cocktail, tell stories, soak up the sun and make memories with a person that I am REALLY GOOD at making memories with.
For the first time ever, Nora is spending nearly a month away from home. Her brothers are going to camp for a week, and really needed some such adventure of her own. She is heading up to stay with my parents, which is right up her alley as it is a whole new audience to try out her already worn out material that we get to see. She thankfully let me pack her bag for her, as her notion of "hobo-chic" is not something I want shared with the world. Every time she talks to my mom, there are new and wondrous adventures that they have planned with her while she is there. I'm curious if she'll even want to come home. She has to be excited to get some one-on-one time as that is somewhat of a rarity around here. My hope is that any bad manners that I'm trying to get her to stop doing, will be taken care of by July 1. However, I'm sure by then she'll have developed a longing for MASH reruns and nightly popcorn snacks. TOTALLY WORTH IT!
This summer we have a lot to celebrate from beautiful women to bucket lists! I am grateful that I get the chance to take my kids to see their Indiana family, as it doesn't happen every year. My hope that no matter how our two-state-away-stay-cation goes, we can make memories, have fun and get out of the norm if just for a little while. I realize my nostalgia is getting ahead of myself, knowing they'll no doubt remember is the things that go wrong, or they time I yelled at a Burger King Drive-Thru for no other reason than exhaustion...yes, I speak from experience. My wish is that they can see the quality time verses the quantity and take one minute of the entire trip and know that if it weren't for me, the 10 day trip would be really uncomfortable if someone hadn't packed their underwear.
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