As the school year winds down, I find myself dreaming of vacations. Of course, I cannot take any real vacations this summer since I well and truly overdrew the vacation purse over the past 6 months. Fortunately, my last trip home was for a happy event. This is where I witnessed someone close to me get married:
Only my husband and I went on this trip. It is difficult to make the decision to travel without the children. However, when each child costs over $1000 to fly to my homeland, it is difficult to justify. We did take them late last year and my older son has been twice now. It is unfortunate that it is so expensive to travel, but at least there are many things for us to see and do in the US.
Today is Saturday and although cold, it is a beautiful sunny morning. Makes the ever so glad that I did not succumb to the desire to buy a bottle of wine last night. This reduced alcohol thing is working out ok, even if I do have some fairly strong cravings at times. I have had a dull headache for the past few days but that too is bearable. We took the kids to see The Lorax last night and it was delightful. Tonight, hubby and I will go to The Hunger Games. We are not big movie buffs. In fact, the only movie my husband and I have seen together at a cinema since we have been married is Race Across the Sky (I think that is what it was called – the Leadville Mountain Bike race?). With two kids and no family to watch them, movie nights become expensive. We have found a great sitter, which is lucky, be every time we need a sitter, we are spending at least $100 for the whole evening. I guess one might argue that you cannot put a price on sanity, but sometimes I find it hard to justify paying a sitter.
And somehow I am back to the balancing of family and life again. I keep hearing how important “me” time is or “couples time”. And I totally agree. My husband and I have quite a strained relationship and kids haven’t made it easier. But stressing about money also puts strain on a relationship so where is the balance here? Add to the fact that the kids are at daycare all day, and you might come to the correct conclusion that we don’t want to spend time away from them in the evenings.
I know you are hearing lots of complaints from me, but keep in mind that this is my outlet. It is healthier to vent here than at home. I tend to fall into a vicious circle – get stressed, drink too much, take too much migraine medicine and cannot sleep. Take sleeping pills, brain gets foggy, coping abilities decline, stress increases… and so on. It has been nice to have a less clouded brain as of late. The stress is still there and sleep doesn’t come as easily as I’d like, but I feel more motivated to do things well when I am a little more “sharp”. For me, these things come in cycles. With one month of the academic year left, I know I have three months of down time ahead of me. While I will be expected to work, work takes on a different meaning over the summer. The boys will still be in daycare, which sounds cruel but they get to do all sorts of fun stuff in the summer – like go to the local pool every week. They get to do more stuff than they would if they were home with me (because technically, I am still working – gotta love a 12 month contract at a teaching institution). But I will have the luxury of taking them late and picking them up early. They can have the day off if I want to stay home with them for the day. Yes, summers are my saving grace, my mental health care. I cannot wait!
springcleanedmom 