Good Morning everyone!
Wow, does it feel good to be home! I love vacation and it is always hard to leave what I call ‘fantasy land’ however, walking in the door of my home no matter what the weather is, wow.
We got home last night from 15 days in Sanibel, Florida, at midnight(before daylight savings) it was so great. It was a wonderful place to be.
I think it also helped that our sitter/housesitter cleaned up our main floor so, it was really nice and clean when we walked in the door…no clutter! I LOVE no clutter!
Steve and I put all the children to sleep, who by the way, were PERFECT on that late night flight! Seriously, they all slept and they all woke up joyfully when we got off the plane! So, we put the children to bed and we crawled into our bed and we both just sighed. It felt so good to be back in our own bed! LOL, however, we have a Select Comfort bed and our sitter had adjusted Steve’s side from his normal ‘hammock’ bed to a normal bed and he was so uncomfortable until he could find a good number again.
We just looked around at our empty bedroom walls, laid in bed, and thanked God for the opportunity we just had to spend with our children and eachother.
I think it is so overlooked how important it is for the children and the parents to spend one on one quality time with no agenda, no schedules, no school and nothing but, fun in the sun, or the slopes, or the forest. It doesn’t matter when, it doesn’t matter where but, it matters that we all take time with our children and our spouses to get away from real life for a while.
Our 5 year old really cried leaving the island, and at the airport, and when we got home last night. We couldn’t figure out why she was so upset and the rest of us were fine. Well, she is the only one just in school 2 days a week and she only gets to see her brother and sister some nights and on weekends.
She had her best friend (her sister) and her brother, and her baby sister, her mom, and her dad all day and night for 15 days without school, activities, or life getting in the way. Now, she has to come back to the ‘real world’ and be without them again.
Yes, she has me all the time and she has the baby but, it just isn’t the same. I really feel for her!
I think life for her will be a bit better when she starts Kindergarten next year and is able to feel like a big girl and have her own friends, her own hot lunches, her own homework.
I think many times as parents, we forget what it is like to be little and how much those little people really value family. I think we often forget that they are little! 5, 6, and 7 are still LITTLE! We tend to give them a lot of responsibilities, schedules, and organized events. We forget that little people need down time, they need unstructured play time, and they need their family.
I don’t understand the rush to have these people grow up so fast. My son is going to be 8 years old in April and I can’t believe how fast time has gone by. It really does seem like yesterday that I was a mom for the first time. I had no clue what to expect or what I was going to do but, I looked at that little guy in my arms and knew nothing was ever going to be the same and my life just took a pretty significant turn….for the better.
I cherish my people. I love them so much and I am SO grateful Steve and I have made the sacrifices we needed to make so I could stay at home. It was a joint decision and quite possibly the best one we have made so far as parents.
I can’t say this enough but, they grow up way too fast and they need family around a lot! Take time for your children!!!! You can’t get that time back when they are older and ugh, heaven forbid anything should happen to either you or your spouse and you don’t get to watch them grow up. My husband’s dad died just before my husband turned 12. Life doesn’t promise anything.
My husband always says, “I have never heard someone when they are older say,’I regret spending too much time with my children.’ “
So, take that vacation, that long weekend, or just hunker down for a weekend and cancel all activities and hang out at home. Or, if you are really adventurous, sit down with your spouse, look at your finances, figure out how much money you REALLY need to live on, get rid of that 2nd car(we have only had one car for 3-4 years now) quit getting your hair done at those fancy salons, quit those facials and waxes, STOP shopping at Lund’s and Byerly’s (except for once in a while), cut back your clothing spending, get rid of your 100+ channels of TV, stop eating out and quit your job! Stay at home with your children. It is do-able. I promise, it is a lot easier than you think to cut those things out.
Your children are only children once and these are the formative years. Be the one who forms your children, don’t let the world get to them and decide how they will be raised.
Blessings to you all and so glad to be home!
By the way….anyone up for a ‘girls night in’ and a couple bottles of wine????!!!