Welcome to my Weblog!
Welcome to 1 Mother 2 Another! To read my most recent weblog entries, scroll down. To read entries from one category, click the links at right. To read my journey from the beginning, click here. To find out more about me, click here.
Top 5s
Short on time? Click here to go to my Top 5s Page - links to my top five recommendations in every category from Breastfeeding Sites to Urban Living Solutions.

Fool's Errand (def): Family Vacation

Welcome back everyone!  With the short week, I’m skipping a new poll so you’ve still got time to vote in the pediatrician poll.  Hope your Fourth of July was fun; we took a long, four-day weekend and went – nowhere.

Honestly, the idea of traveling on what was probably the most-vacationed weekend of the summer was too much for us.  Add to that the whole throwing-off-Maddie’s-schedule thing, and oh yes, the whole money thing, and we decided a four-day weekend at home sounded really awesome.

With so much free time, it’s amazing to me how little the days felt different from any normal day.  I realize now that with parenthood comes that paradigm of No Days Off Ever, even on vacation.  Have a whole day with no commitments?  Good for you.  Think you’re going to sleep in until noon?  Jessica Simpson has a better chance of winning an Emmy for her stellar but puzzlingly short-lived variety show.  Since every day is a vacation day for Maddie, she’s pretty happy to keep going with the status quo schedule-wise.  Every night we’d pathetically say, “Night night sweetheart.  You can sleep in tomorrow – no need to get up at your regular time.”  She’s smile at our thoughtfulness, wave cheerfully, and self-sacrificially get up at her normal time the next morning anyway.



So really what a day off now means is Less Time Taken Up With Life, More Time For Maddie.  She adores it, and I’m longing for a nice old-fashioned errand to run that would take up a good half-hour before her next nap.  “Oh, look, out of anchovy paste!  Can’t make cereal without that!  I’ll just run to the grocery store real quick . . .”

To be fair, though, Vacation also means more help from daddy, and that totally rocks.  I’m pretty sure his definition of vacation is not “cessation from a desk job in order to work like a slave for my one-year-old”, but these extra five pounds I’m carrying are not my definition of “you get your post-pregnancy figure back in six months”.  Your old figure, with interest, apparently.

At any rate, we’ve started talking about trying to take a mini-vacation some time this summer:  just a long weekend somewhere driveable where we know no one, and can therefore happily stick to Maddie’s schedule without looking like Paranoid New Parents.  “It’s 11:05!  It’s time for her nap!  Retreat from the beach – go! Go!  Go!”

I’m casting about searching for a place that’s on the beach and cheap, and oh yeah, family friendly.  Remember how those words used to be enough to make you cross a potential hotel off your list?  Now that phrase is manna from heaven.  Does it have a pool?  Do they provide sturdy pack n plays?  Family restaurant?  And the gold prize – a playground?

And as I’m compiling criteria, I begin to realize the list looks strangely familiar.  Park in walking distance – access to water – sleeping arrangements as much like home as possible – ability to control her food – wait, I know this place! 

Yeah, it’s called home.  We’re working our butts off to recreate our home environment – and the corresponding schedule – as closely as possible.

With the added bonus of paying for it.

Maybe I’ll just call my girlfriend Abby, and our families can swap houses for a week to get a change of scenery.

Though she’s got one more bedroom than we have – we may have to pay extra for that.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

House Rules

Here are the rules for posting comments on 1mother2another.com. Posting a comment that violates these rules will result in the comment’s deletion, and you’ll probably be banned from commenting in the future.

1) Register first. If you would like to post a comment, you must create an account with us. Check out the home page to do so.

2) Constructive comments only. If you cannot maintain a respectful tone in your posting, even in disagreement, your comment will be deleted. We’re all trying to find our way in this thing and are struggling to be the best moms we can. If you disagree with something I say, feel free to politely email me. If you disagree with another reader’s posting, you’re welcome to kindly post in reply. Vitriolic diatribes will be deleted. This site is about encouraging and supporting, not tearing down and chastising.

3) Questions welcomed. If an entry raises a question, you’re welcome to email me directly or post it. Keep in mind that postings will result in public replies by strangers and not just me.

4) Don’t steal. All original writings contained within this website are under copyright protection. If you link to us, please credit us as your source and provide a link back to our website. If you're interested in using an excerpt in published material, please contact us.

5) Share your photos! We'd love to have photos from our registered readers to show on our home page under "Maddie's friends". Email us a jpeg of your little one's best photo to photos@1mother2another.com. Please, no photos from professional photographers which fall under copyright protection.