Weekend Sojourn

This was a big weekend. As you might have already gathered by the daily posts, I don't travel often. And on the rare occasion I do travel, I never go without my kids. This weekend was a first. It went well. I actually left first of all. I'm awesome at coming up with "reasons" for not really leaving when it comes time for it. Second of all, I actually enjoyed myself without constant heartache to be back home with my babies. It wasn't difficult to fall into easy conversation with my friend and her lovely family. They made me feel right at home from the time I took off my coat to the time I fumbled with the auto-timer on my camera for these parting pictures:


While I'd love to pontificate about the many lessons I learned and insights I gained from my first weekend away from my family, I can't. I think I was too caught up in the moment to care about taking away a life lesson. What I can tell you is that while I believe you have to get away every now and then for mental health and acuity, it's just as nice to come back home. I wasn't sure how I'd feel upon return. Would I wish I stayed away longer? Would I tackle my husband to the ground with kisses and scoop up the kids and the dog with my free hand? Would I grab my keys and run back out?

When I stepped inside our house I was amused to see it in disarray. I had been secretly afraid my husband would have figured out how to do everything better than I can. It wouldn't have surprised me to find all the childrens' toys alphabetically filed in a colony of plastic bins complete with color coded labels and tabs. And same for the refrigerator and pantry. But, thank goodness, that wasn't the case. I saw evidence of him spending more time with the kids than with house chores. That makes me one happy wife and mom. There were crumbs on the kitchen floor, toys strewn about the house, an abundance of unfolded laundry, and dirty dishes stacked sideways in the sink. Things were normal!

Sadie and Grayson greeted me first with, "Hi Mommy, Sadie missed you." She looked as snowy as our back yard. When did all her yellow become so white? And then little Abby peeped over the stairwell tottering quickly to Mommy. I laughed because it was good to see them all and then I laughed because both Grayson and Abby had the worst case of bed hair I've ever seen. Then, appeared The Husband. He was plodding slowly behind Abby up the stairs. Poor Andy looked more tired than I expected and like perhaps he was planning to keep his day job. How long had I been gone?

We all took a few minutes to catch up and eat dinner while filling in all the blanks from the weekend. The buzz from my fun trip was still with me but the long drive was quickly catching up. Before we could all get too comfortable, I dragged everyone back into the car so I could return the rental. By the time we got home again, we were all in fast forward motion getting ready for bed. For once, the kids were actually ready for bed. Well, Grayson was ready for our bed. Fine with me. If I could've slept next to Abby and Sadie too, I would've. As it was, I fell asleep holding hands with both my husband and my little boy. I think they missed me as much as I missed them.

So yes, it is good to get away. And yes again, it's every bit as good to come back.