How I spent my summer vacation

When I was pregnant, I had many ideas regarding my future parenting style and what motherhood would be like in general. Some of those ideas included leisurely, uninterrupted coffee dates at Starbucks with my prenatal group, vigorous, athletic walks with my new baby, and the absence of toy guns. In reality, conversation over coffee was sporadic and much interrupted and walks were slow and punctuated by the throwing of teething toys on the filthy sidewalk and the constant checking for too much sun/ too much wind/ too much cold for tender little bodies. And guns? Well, they do not have toy guns. My children, out of respect for me, play games in which they call their weapons – which range from sticks found in the back yard to a pair of maracas – “shooters”, not guns, and pretend to be soldiers, but not regular soldiers – peacekeeping soldiers. Sigh. An acquaintance visited me when Mark was not yet two and Jake was a baby, and said with the self-righteousness of a non-parent, “Every boy should have a doll”. Fast-forward forty months and the only mention of a desire for a doll was the time Jake asked for a plastic spoon to be his dolly, which he promptly ran over with a monster truck. At the time though, I smiled agreeably, as the acquaintance was then pregnant with twin boys and I felt she would get her due in time.

Another thing I fantasized about while pregnant was vacations with children. I guess I imagined non-stop fun, without the actual work that is inherent with small children. When reality dawned, I began to dread annual vacations. I never slept well since the children never slept well, and I ended up doing the exact same things that I would have done at home, just in a less convenient setting. On one such vacation, my mother-in-law looked at me kindly and with sympathy suggested perhaps I needed more iron. In fact I just needed some rest.

But this year was different! We were on vacation, and it really was a vacation. It was much like what I had dreamed a vacation could be. Sure, there were dishes, and meal planning, and much laundry, but all those chores were dimmed by the great time we had. The beach! The swimming pool! Long walks through beautiful vineyards! I did not worry about anyone eating sand or falling face first into the water. Sunscreen was applied, if not exactly willingly, then without the angst and suffering that once it caused. The children traveled well and happily, and truly I couldn’t have been happier.