The one where I rant about how "vacations" are really just like being at home in a strange place
post a comment | posted May 14
We're about to embark on a little trip to Pigeon Forge Tennessee with some of our church friends -- do some hiking, playing games, relaxing and socializing. The difficultly about ANY vacation (when your kids come) is that you, as a parent, aren't really getting a vacation at all. You're just getting to do the same things you do at home, except in a totally foreign environment. You still have to get up, get and prepare food, find clothes, give baths, keep them from killing each other over who said what in what tone to whom in a certain direction as the sun sets on the west (or something to that effect). Vacations suck.
Add the wrinkle of having a child with S.P.D. -- which means ANYTHING new is like having your thumbs amputated. Oh sure, we tell her where we're going, we show her pictures, let her know what to "expect" (which is mostly impossible when you've never been to place -- she wants to know what the light is like, how high the ceilings are, what the carpet smells like or if the bed squeaks) long in advance. Its impossible to describe the unknown, which gives her no comfort, which results in cataclysmic explosions of emotion. *Big sigh*.
Now I understand retirement, its not about your job or work -- its about going a REAL vacation.