A couple of you have commented on the fact that we were brave to take a vacation like this with the kids, and looking back I see I’ve painted a rather revisionist rosy shade on our vacation. We did have a great time, but I have to be honest — this was a terribly stressful trip.
We just never got our equilibrium back after the trip down, I think. I was snappish with my family, which I hate, and I was hard on the kids. I was tired because Lucas is going through a phase where he wakes up looking for his soother about six times a night and tense because I knew I not behaving well and couldn’t quite control it. Lucas has started solids but is just a little bit too small and slumpy to be able to sit in those restaurant high chairs, so mealtimes were extra stressful. I think he was suffering from a combination of my stress and the stomach virus the rest of the family (save me) went through on the trip, because he cried a lot. One of the big boys was whiny with stomach cramps and the other forgot to pack his listening ears for the trip, and I was short-tempered with both of them. That, and the infernal rain… What fun!
So it was a good trip, and in a way I’m glad I can paint these pictures in the blog so it looks more like I wanted it to turn out. But I’ve never ended a vacation with such a strong, visceral desire for a “do-over”; on the drive home, I wanted to do nothing more than go back to the hotel and have another four days so I could take another shot at it. It wasn’t Lake Placid that was disappointing, it was me, and I wanted a second chance. The feeling kept on for days, that odd desire to turn back time and have another go at it.
If I could do it all over again, I would. I’d just relax a little bit more. I’d admit, though, I’m glad that we’ll never again be vacationing with three under seven, one of whom is not yet six months old. It can only get easier from here, right?
It’s hard to imagine that you’ll ever have anything so challenging as a family-wide stomach virus again, or that you’ll ever be so sleep deprived, either.
We do exactly the same summer vacation every year, and part of the comfort of that is that I can adjust my expectations. This was the first year where I truly felt relaxed and happy with my own self while at the lake — every year before now, I’ve been disappointed in some vague way that affected my ability to be … well, nice.
Of course, we fly west on Monday and I’m having to remind myself that kid-wrangling in three different locations is not the same thing as a vacation, no matter how exotic the surroundings.
It is these vacations that Tristan and Simon will look back on in 15 years and tell Lucas about how they got lost on the way down, and how it rained every day, etc… either way, good or bad vacations you make memories… and that’s what family is all about in my opinion!
P.S. Happy Birthday tomorrow – I will be out of cyber comission tomorrow, but I always remember you taking August 1st off for your b-day, so I hope tomorrow the boys give you a chance to put your feet up and get spoiled! Have a good one!
I still think you were very brave for even getting in the car in the first place! Whenever I think of going on a vacation, the packing list alone is enough to talk myself out of it. Next time, you’ll throw all three boys in the car without a second thought and yes, it can only be better from here on out.
Easier???? Ha, ha, ha!!! Don’t expect that for many years. And then when it finally get to that point, they don’t want to go with you anymore.