I left a few weeks ago to spend a fabulous 5 days with my newborn nephew. I left hubby in charge of the 3 kids and took off. I had this thought in my head that he might realize I don’t have it all that easy. I think he had this thought in his head that a week with a newborn would make me want another of my own.
It was a big negative on both counts. I really enjoyed my nephew and he’s a great baby, but it’s pretty spectacular to hand him over to Mom whenever he cries, poops or wakes up in the middle of the night. I’ve never had that before as I’m always Mom. I also know my own mistake—I made it too easy for him.
I had all the laundry done and the house clean before I left. I planned the meals, purchased the food and wrote out the recipes before I left. I wrote out an easy to read schedule of where our kids needed to be when and what they needed to bring. I wrote out a daily schedule of our kids’ routines and activities.
Basically, I laid it all out for him. No one tells me when to take Stacia to soccer. No one tells me what time Lorelai takes her nap. No one tells me what time Brenia eats her meals and snacks. The hardest part of this motherhood thing is figuring it all out—even when it changes on a daily basis. He got to skip that part.
Something tells me he wouldn’t find it quite so easy if I simply packed my own stuff and took off for a few days. Some place warm, maybe. Like a beach, far far away. Where margaritas flow like water.
Not that I’ve given it any thought.
I screwed up the exact same way when I went out to my sister’s to pick out wedding dresses. And the only thing he had to take the kids out for (twin’s soccer game) was canceled too. He kept calling saying he was bored. Of course he was, the house was clean, the laundry done, and they ordered pizza for dinner every night.
Oh and congrats on your new nephew!
Oh I so know how you feel–if only someone would lay M’s clothes for me, decide what to make for dinner, etc, etc. This is a univeral mom/dad thing–they truly don’t have a clue!
You did it because you love him, and for that you will have enormous karma flowing your way.
Plus, no matter how “real life” you make it, does it really come close to (insert number of years here) X years doing it without fail, without backup, with no end in sight?
No, so shrug, make the lists, be happy that the house is still standing when you get back, kiss your spouse and thank them profusely for letting you out of the cage for a week.
A week? Wow, that is pretty cool!