Parental Time Out
A brief note to the loyal few. Late January and the weather has taken an unseasonable change into the low 60's after several weeks where we barely made it out of the 20's, and this is one happy Momma. My reasons are numerous. First, the previously mentioned glorious weather. Seriously, it is beautiful outside and I am grinning like an idiot as a result of a little vitamin D type lovin'. Second, I'm on vacation. That's right folks, a real honest to goodness week off of work. I convinced the cop to also take a week by getting him (yes, him, honestly....I mean sure, I also benefit, but really, it was for him) a few nights away in a gorgeous ocean side hotel in Monterey (we leave another day, I'm not so bad that I would be blogging on a romantic getaway) as a Christmas gift. And lastly, it is a getaway sans children!
Now loyal readers, you were just automatically divided into two camps. The first is the super jealous, wishing they had a few days away from their kidlets faction. The second is the holier than thou, how can she possibly delight in time away from her babies camp. I'll let you in on a little secret, group two...we all know you are also members of group one who are too proud to admit it, or else have no children. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, and nothing spoils an expensive dinner like my three year old loudly conversing with the five year old about such lovely topics as which boogers cling, which drip, and how to accomodate both without getting them in your mouth.
Really, the break is in the nick of time. As previously mentioned the weather has been horrendously cold and we've all been trapped indoors. As a result, cabin fever has kicked in to an all time high and the boys have turned on each other like vicious little badgers. A few days ago a brawl erupted over someone drinking out of the wrong color cup, and it was like a gang war of two in my own kitchen. I'm pretty sure the kids don't even remember what my voice sounds like when it isn't at a full drill sergeant yell. So you can imagine my delight when the grandparents called and said that rather than just keep the boys at their house while we were away they were going to take a quick trip to Disneyland. It seems the grandparents also have a wee bit of cabin fever. I'm not going to say they've also been brawling, but I did notice my dad limping a little when he came to get the carseats, and strollers, and DVD players...
The kicker is they want to surprise the boys. This is really and truly the only age where that's possible, because my kids have very little concept of geography at all and while they may realize that it's a REALLY long car ride I'm thinking they aren't going to have any idea what they're near. But they knew something was up, because I made Gavin do a week of schoolwork over the weekend. They were told by their grandpa maybe they would go somewhere fun, which started the guessing game. And so to silence the guessing game Grandpa told them he would take them to the world's largest bee hive, tall enough to walk through like a house. He further explained (lied) that bees only sting people they don't like, and he'd never been stung in his whole life. This gave poor Gavin great pause, since he was stung six times last summer alone. What's really sad, though, is he was still excited to go since it meant a trip with his grandparents. I can't wait to hear how excited he is when he realizes it's Disneyland and not a trip to the hive of pain.
And the cop and I? We have spent our first day of freedom doing what any other couple who's had kids FOREVER would be doing. We cleaned. Sure, we slept in a little. But then we did things like clean the craft room and car out, and get rid of treasures that were made out of actual food and then tucked away neatly for us to find later, only after the infestation occurred. Tonight we're going to have grown up food that none of the kids like to eat, because we can! We may even have dessert first...I'm giddy at the thought of it! Tomorrow morning I'll sleep in and wait for video to arrive from Grandma of my kids going absolutely insane when they realize where they are. And then I'll giggle and wait for two more hours for the text from Grandma asking why their pupils are still so dialated, and why they run in circles for no apparent reason giggling frantically, and how long have they been climbing that high in trees? I fully expect the high to last the duration of their trip. I'm not sure who has it worse, the grandparents who have to try to catch them, or the parents who get them back when they are in Disney detox.
I thought it only fair to brief you all, so you are prepared for the next blog which will most likely entail descriptions from Grandma (who, as you recall, raised all girls) of her first vacation with the wild boys. She's a tough broad, she can handle it.
Until next time.
Now loyal readers, you were just automatically divided into two camps. The first is the super jealous, wishing they had a few days away from their kidlets faction. The second is the holier than thou, how can she possibly delight in time away from her babies camp. I'll let you in on a little secret, group two...we all know you are also members of group one who are too proud to admit it, or else have no children. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, and nothing spoils an expensive dinner like my three year old loudly conversing with the five year old about such lovely topics as which boogers cling, which drip, and how to accomodate both without getting them in your mouth.
Really, the break is in the nick of time. As previously mentioned the weather has been horrendously cold and we've all been trapped indoors. As a result, cabin fever has kicked in to an all time high and the boys have turned on each other like vicious little badgers. A few days ago a brawl erupted over someone drinking out of the wrong color cup, and it was like a gang war of two in my own kitchen. I'm pretty sure the kids don't even remember what my voice sounds like when it isn't at a full drill sergeant yell. So you can imagine my delight when the grandparents called and said that rather than just keep the boys at their house while we were away they were going to take a quick trip to Disneyland. It seems the grandparents also have a wee bit of cabin fever. I'm not going to say they've also been brawling, but I did notice my dad limping a little when he came to get the carseats, and strollers, and DVD players...
The kicker is they want to surprise the boys. This is really and truly the only age where that's possible, because my kids have very little concept of geography at all and while they may realize that it's a REALLY long car ride I'm thinking they aren't going to have any idea what they're near. But they knew something was up, because I made Gavin do a week of schoolwork over the weekend. They were told by their grandpa maybe they would go somewhere fun, which started the guessing game. And so to silence the guessing game Grandpa told them he would take them to the world's largest bee hive, tall enough to walk through like a house. He further explained (lied) that bees only sting people they don't like, and he'd never been stung in his whole life. This gave poor Gavin great pause, since he was stung six times last summer alone. What's really sad, though, is he was still excited to go since it meant a trip with his grandparents. I can't wait to hear how excited he is when he realizes it's Disneyland and not a trip to the hive of pain.
And the cop and I? We have spent our first day of freedom doing what any other couple who's had kids FOREVER would be doing. We cleaned. Sure, we slept in a little. But then we did things like clean the craft room and car out, and get rid of treasures that were made out of actual food and then tucked away neatly for us to find later, only after the infestation occurred. Tonight we're going to have grown up food that none of the kids like to eat, because we can! We may even have dessert first...I'm giddy at the thought of it! Tomorrow morning I'll sleep in and wait for video to arrive from Grandma of my kids going absolutely insane when they realize where they are. And then I'll giggle and wait for two more hours for the text from Grandma asking why their pupils are still so dialated, and why they run in circles for no apparent reason giggling frantically, and how long have they been climbing that high in trees? I fully expect the high to last the duration of their trip. I'm not sure who has it worse, the grandparents who have to try to catch them, or the parents who get them back when they are in Disney detox.
I thought it only fair to brief you all, so you are prepared for the next blog which will most likely entail descriptions from Grandma (who, as you recall, raised all girls) of her first vacation with the wild boys. She's a tough broad, she can handle it.
Until next time.
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