Vacation, all I ever wanted
Family Vacation. A week of no-naps, car-naps, stroller-naps, or my least favorite - naps that go so long, bed time is officially out the window-naps. A week of chicken nuggets and fries that almost always go uneaten, an endless appetite for snacks, coupled with a concerning lack of water intake. It’s walks to the pool with floats strapped to every surface, water bottles spilling, and the inevitable meltdown when it’s time for sunscreen. It’s sand in the bathing suits, in the mouth, the beach bags… everywhere!
But it’s also a week of finding sea shells, getting braver in the pool, screaming as the waves break, and waking up in the morning nose to nose with a bronzed, sleepy baby who’s not a baby anymore. It’s the feeling of a shower and dry clothes after hours in a wet bathing suit in the hot sun. It’s morning coffee that lasts until it’s time to get ready for the pool. It’s warm nights pushing the stroller until you see a little head bob itself to sleep. It’s spending time with your parents, your spouse, your kids in a way that just isn’t possible in the daily rhythms and demands of life at home.
It’s all the things, but most of all, it’s a thing you cherish for your whole life. Memories made.
I was texting a friend while on the trip and I described it “some 10/10 perfect moments and some 10/10 stressful moments.” And isn’t that true of parenthood, all time, wherever you are? Moments that make you want to cry because they are so precious and sweet coupled with moments that make you want to pull your hair out and question your sanity. Yes, vacation with little kids is just “parenting in a different place.” But it’s also parenting completely dialed in. No distractions or plans or chores to do. It allows you to soak up your kids and your season of life so clearly; so perfectly. Inevitability, this means that the temper tantrum you diffused throughout breakfast amidst a mess of crayons, paper menus, and too much syrup will be seared into your memory; but it also means the images of your kids running around the beach at sunset will too. I loved seeing my kids wrapped in a towel, slouched in a lounge chair, with a PB&J in one hand, staring off into the distance. Is there any other feeling that so perfectly captures “childhood?” I loved seeing the look of wonder as they marveled at the clouds at 30,000 feet (they are much braver than their mom). I loved moments of quiet and deep concentration as they crouched in the sand at the beach; delighting their senses in the world’s greatest sensory bin.
It wasn’t always perfect, but memory is kind. So I know it will be perfect in my memory.
