When: Decide when you’ll go

One very important decision to make after deciding that you will take a momcation is to decide when. At present, my children are aged 10 and 6, so school plays a role in deciding our vacations whether the children are vacationing with me or not. For me, the two overarching options to consider for when to take a momcation are as follows:

When school is on vacation, so the person caring for my children while I’m away won’t need to take them to and from school. This works well if the person is older, is retired, works from home, or has taken time off from work to stay with the children, and so this person would usually not be leaving the house for work, etc.

NOTE: This is the option I opt for because my “go to” person to care for my children while I am away is my mom, and she is a retired nurse. While she can drive the boys around, if necessary, it is much more convenient if school is on vacation, so that she doesn’t have the juggle their two different school schedules while also managing cooking and cleaning for them as well. I know my boys, and they are a handful. While my husband would also be at home, he works, so having my mom care for our boys works best.

However, there is another option…

Dear Overwhelmed/Tired Mom

Dear Overwhelmed/Tired Mom,

Let me start by acknowledging that I don’t understand. I say that because I can sometimes be annoyed by people who tell me that they understand what I’m feeling when I don’t think that they do. Many times, the person means well, and I think the person means to convey that they hear me, they care, and they have been through similar experiences.

There is only one you, so only you know what it’s like to walk in your shoes. Only you know what it’s like to wake up in the morning, Mondays through Fridays, to get yourself ready for work, and also to get your children up and awake, showered, clothed, and fed before school. You may drive them and yourself to school and work, or like me, you may walk or drive a portion of the way, then take a train – in our case, at least 3 trains – just to get to school and work. Only you know how you feel during and after the shuffle, hustle, and bustle just to get your children to school. Only you know how you feel walking into your place of work before 9am, yet feeling as though you have already completed a full day of work. Only you know

It's Not Always Smooth Sailing

So, as I sat, reclined on our couch in the living room, after 9pm on a weeknight, excited about travel and all the information I’m preparing to share with you on this blog about traveling together as a family and how great and awesome it is, my six-year-old provides me with material for this particular blog post. It’s not what I had initially planned to write, but hey, if it’s one thing being a mom has taught me, from the moment a routine ultrasound appointment turned into an unexpected admission to Labor and Delivery, is that life, especially life with children, is unpredictable.

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