Oct
26
Home on the road
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A couple weekends ago we drove about 90 minutes north to Bellingham and spent the day exploring. I booked the cheapest motel I could find, and between gas and food, we probably spent under $150 for a lovely weekend getaway.
It isn’t practical for us to do this every weekend, but man, I wish we could. Now that the boys are older, little overnight vacations are my absolute favorite thing to do as a family. Even the relatively humble surroundings of discount motels have become appealing to me. I mean, I’d love to be pampered at the Ritz, who wouldn’t, but have you noticed the cheap places have all kinds of family-friendly things the nicer places don’t? Like free wireless that actually works, breakfast (with waffle stations!), and mini fridges in the rooms? Plus, they typically let you check in whenever, instead of 4 PM? Sure, their comforters may be slightly suspicious—I wouldn’t want to inspect each room with one of those body-fluid-revealing Dateline lights—but let’s be real, they’re probably not sanitizing everything every day at the 5-star joints either.
Do you ever do this—just hit the road with the family for an overnight trip? Where do you typically stay?
Oct
25
Lucky
Filed Under Uncategorized | 17 Comments
Up until recently, I had no plans to enroll Dylan in preschool. For one thing, the vast majority of preschools in our area are ridiculously expensive; for another, I was convinced we could easily do preschool at home.
One pretty big thing changed when Riley went off to school in September, though: Dylan lost his playmate. Now, he doesn’t sit around all day pining for his brother’s company—in fact, he’s generally about a thousand times more well-behaved and good-natured without his shit-stirring partner in crime around. But he doesn’t have anyone to interact with except for me, and while I had the best intentions of doing all kinds of fun and educational activities together, the reality is that my workload has increased. I typically sit in front of my laptop all morning, and sporadically throughout the afternoon as well.
So after tons of searching, I finally found a nearby preschool that has an affordable part-time option, and I reluctantly said goodbye to our long-time babysitter. I don’t have quite as much free time as I did before—he’s only there 2 mornings a week—but I think it was the right thing to do for Dylan. He went to his 3rd class today, and as he did both times before, he exploded out of the classroom afterwards in a joyous tumble of excitement, brimming over with stories. “MOMMY I LEARNED ABOUT P FOR PENGUIN AND PINEAPPLE AND I PLAYED OUTSIDE WITH FRIENDS AND I HAD A SNACK!”
I am sad about the loss of our sitter, whose weekly presence allowed me not only to work uninterrupted but to attend doctor’s appointments and run various errands, but I’m thrilled that Dylan is having fun at his new school, and that Riley is thriving beyond my greatest hopes in kindergarten. I’m thrilled we have the flexibility to change things, when it seems like they need changing. (I’m maybe even a little thrilled I don’t have to work from the library any more, unless I want to.)
I read an amazing article the other day, maybe you did too. It’s written by the mother of a child with a fatal disease, and no, it is not an easy thing to read. But I carefully bookmarked it, and every now and then I read it again. Because it is a powerful thing to be reminded of that which is most important. I can get so caught up in the minutiae of our schedules and whether I’m doing the right things or doing enough things, when life doesn’t need to be so complicated. She writes it so perfectly: the only task here is to love.
I feel beyond lucky these days. Harried and isolated and sometimes more than a little overwhelmed, but ridiculously, insanely lucky.
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