Summer is nice. It really is good to not have structure every single day and get to spend time with your kids in the ways that you want to. But there has a BIT too much togetherness this summer for me. After 11 days of consecutive lockdown...strep for one, pneumonia for another, healthy 3rd child who was starved for attention and began making up ailments midweek b/c "She NEEDED attention!!!!" -- well, I am kind of over summer.
The icing on my cake was when I finally took my kids out of the house for our first TRUE outing to church (all 3 kids and by myself) then lunch and to the pool (again by myself). There were only 3 other families there when we arrive at the pool...all in close proximity. I get everyone sunscreened, floaties on the baby boy, and send them on their way. I am trying to unpack towels, set up our little oasis in the shade, and trying to talk to a friend....all the while my children (who have been with me 24/7 nonstop....for ELEVEN DAYS) are yelling "Mom!" over and over and over to the point that it sounds like dueling banjos between them. I stop what I am doing, turn and face them, and give a warning about NOT saying my name again until I am done talking to my friend and setting up our stuff or someone is gonna be in BIG trouble. I turn back around...one dad makes a comment about how the kids are on my nerves, I just gave a pat "Yes....very much so" answer. One of mine yells, "Hey Mom!" in the background....and I ignore it. Continue unpacking. Once set up...I sit for a second before plunging into the pool and I overhear the following comments being made by a mom a few chairs down from me to her hubby: "I know that you think I am too lenient with our children, but if the alternative is...." It is at this point that I realize this conversation VERY WELL may be about ME!!!!!!!!! So, I just cock my head the slightest in her direction to let her know I can hear her...and the conversation stops. Done. Over. Not another word. Do I have proof she was referring to my parenting skills? Nope. Could they have had other conversations I was not listening to about someone totally different? Without a doubt. Do I think she was referring to me? Most likely.
That said, I took my high road, jumped into the pool with my kids and swam the rest of the day. But this is just a perfect example of a person judging a book by its cover. This woman has NO knowledge of me as a mother, friend, or even as a person in general. She had NO idea that my kids had been on lockdown with me for 11 days and that this was our first day out of the house. She had no idea that I had just wrestled 3 kids through church and lunch by myself. She had no idea that I didn't feel great myself, was on an antibiotic, and REALLY need an alcoholic beverage after the week that I had had but that I could not have due to meds I was on. Yet, she found it extremely appropriate to judge me. Unwise, young jedi......unwise.
I look back and can tell you that the last FAMILY vacation I took was to DisneyWorld over a year and a half ago....when all three of my kids got a horrid stomach virus on a rotating basis. I was cordoned to the condo for 48 straight hours at one point (if anyone has my email journal from that trip saved, forward it to me and I will post it...mine got deleted. Priceless. Stuff that could never in a million year be made up). Our kids have been no place (save the Louisville zoo or lunch in Evansville) since then. The last couples getaway that my husband and I had was Derby. Was it fun? Hell yes. LOTS of fun. But, also work. You gotta dress up, look nice, stay looking nice, AND stay drunk all day ;-) Exhausting and fun and would NEVER trade it for the world....but not relaxing and definitely not a "vacation".
I know lots of you out there go places on Fall Break, Spring Break, and even a summer vacation thrown in for good measure. We evidentally do not. I am missing the effing BOAT over here. So, yeah, we have $ for a family trip or couples trip. And I am cashing that in SOON. Happy mommy = happy family.
Have a great day, y'all!
xoxo Jennifer
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