I have spent weeks, no months, yearning for a simple stay-cation and it has proven to be as elusive as patches of grass this winter. For me a simple stay-cation would include a few key elements- of course, staying in my home and not spending money but really a stay-cation would also include being kidless for the day. I have changed at least one diaper a day for the past 23.5 months and I would just love a break from those papery poop traps.
We have two different day care providers- one for Josh and one for Liam. In both cases, going to the sitter is an option over Christmas or February breaks. Now, when Liam was a baby and the sitter suggested that he could come to her house during the week after Christmas, while I was on break, I acted both offended & bewildered at once. "Really? Why would he come to your house if I'm on break?" or my personal favorite thing to say, "I can't be a stay at home mom but at least I can be with my children on breaks!" This is all fine and good until you start to realize that your day off is spent entertaining, feeding and cleaning up after the children. A holiday should be used to catch-up on some important business (like making a phone call during the day- people don't realize how hard it is for a teacher to make a personal call during the day), doing a thorough cleaning (Who am I kidding? When did I ever do that over a break?) or getting a head start on the weeks to come! Instead vacations for me have actually started setting me back a bit. I spend a lot of time over the break just keeping up with the kids rather than catching up!
Needless to say, I got a bit excited over the thought of having a day to myself to do such selfish items on my "To-Do List" as calling the pediatrician, grading student papers, buying a toaster oven & making a photo book. Yet over Christmas break, despite having two available child care providers, I found myself home with a sick Josh and then a sick husband. I'm not proud to admit that I did actually yell at Bill the morning that we realized they were both sick and would be staying home on my "day off". Since then, I've looked forward to this February break. It was over February break where I devised this great scheme for my stay-cation without children. I was going to paint and get other things done while my children benefited from social interaction!
The day arrived on Tuesday of this week. Bill took both kids to their respective day cares and I started off making a couple of productive phone calls and then... reading. :) I even did one of those 45 minute yoga routines. Bliss.
The highlight of the day was supposed to be a lunch date with Bill to a restaurant we had a gift card for. Unfortunately karma was not on our side. When Bill pulled around the corner of the parking lot, someone backed into the car while we were stopped, waiting for another car to pull out. Oddly, she saw this as our fault. Luckily no one was hurt and the damage was minimal. My frustration level was at an all-time high, however. Didn't karma know I needed this day? Didn't the world see fit to give me one day to myself? Here I was without a poopy diaper in sight but yet I was angrier and more stressed than I have been in months. We stood next to the car and surveyed the damage. It had happened so slowly but I remembered the car lifting up slightly and me leaning away from the passenger side when she bumped into us. Then I saw the seat behind me and it was Joshua's car seat. True, the impact was slow; but what if? What if a car hit us harder on the passenger side while Josh was in the car? Or on Liam's side behind the driver?
This morning (Wednesday), Joshua woke up with a stuffy nose and seeming miserable. I brought him into bed and calmly told Bill that Josh would be staying with me today instead of going to his sitter's house. Bill (remembering my fit I threw over Christmas break when my stay-cation was threatened), asked if I was okay. "Yes," I said, "this is what I do when my babies are sick." And together today, Joshua and I had a great day. We baked banana bread, went for a short walk and had some good talks. I even got a little bit of that wonderful stay-cation when he took his 3 and a half hour nap this afternoon. I think I'll keep him home tomorrow too... just to make sure he's all better.
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