This vacation in Atlanta has been fairly laid back, but I still feel exhausted. Here are a few important lessons I have learned this time around:
- If my children are given the choice between going to heaven or going to Chuck E. Cheese, it’s a no-brainer. (Oh, and apparently exchanging wads and wads of tickets for a one-inch Laffy Taffy and a mini Tootsie-Roll pop is much more rewarding than I would have imagined.)
- Lots and lots of rain is only slightly better than lots and lots of snow. You still get cabin fever.
- When your mom asks you to help her shop for jeans, wear comfortable shoes and pack a lunch.
- An air mattress does not count as a bed, I don’t care what anyone tells you.
- If you go on a leisurely walk with your dad in a hilly neighborhood while pushing your 2-year-old in a stroller, it’s possible that your leg muscles might combust.
- If your husband loves to browse eBay and Craig’s List, it may not be a wise budget move to leave him unsupervised at home for eight days.
- If you would like to renew your faith in your children, just listen to your parents talk about them to their friends. You’d think they were national treasures raised by a herd of angels.
- Vacation makes your children lose their will to sleep. No matter how hard you try to maintain a routine, they go to bed late and wake up too early.
- When your mom thinks that homemade play-doh would be a fun idea for your kids, she’s right. It will entertain Clark and Natalie for more than an hour and the mess is at her house instead of yours.
- Note to self: Do not save all of your children’s old books and toys for 35 years so that your grandchildren can play with them some day. Chances are only about 23% that said grandchildren will survive the dust, mildew, small parts and 274 broken modern safety laws. If you choose to break this “rule,” keep plenty of band-aids and Benadryl on hand.
- I really like Springtime, and really dislike Arctic wintertime.
- It doesn’t really matter much how many years have passed or whether the homestead has changed location, spending time with parents and family always feels like home.
Well, that’s about as deep as I’m feeling today. I’ve got to get some sleep so I can survive that 3 kids on the airplane thing tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s the last day to enter a limerick in the limerick contest. There are some fun ones so far. Watch for voting starting Wednesday.
And also Wednesday is the day you’ll need to reset the RSS feed for this blog as it switches to www.diapersanddivinity.com . From what I understand, Google Reader, your sidebar post-updater-thing, or any RSS feed won’t pick up any new posts unless you re-subscribe. Please come back and find me again or I’ll miss you.
And I’m going to Women’s Conference at BYU at the end of April… is anyone going to be there as well? Might be fun to meet up for lunch one day or something.
Oh, and guess what?! I actually won something in that giveaway at Mormon Mommy Blogs— a cool photo book. Plus a bunch of other people I like won stuff too, so I was so excited when I saw the big announcement. They also invited/approved for me to guest post there soon and I’m anxious about what to write… heavy on diapers or heavy on divinty, or a clever mix of both (that’s trickier sometimes). Any advice? Feel free to throw out a topic, too.
See, since I wasn’t blogging this weekend, I didn’t know you even went on vacation. And I don’t know if you saw my blog today, but I blogged about Vince and gave you a shout out.
Have a great time!
Have a good flight. That’s too bad it rained where you were.
Helpful hint if the airline decides to split you up and seat you NOT next to one of your sons and the man sitting next to you and the man sitting next to your son do not offer to change seats so you can sit together: Get your son to say that he has an upset stomach. The man sitting next to your son will offer to switch with you RIGHT AWAY. 😉
My youngest is 13. I haven’t been to Chuck E Cheese in 10 years. I’m very proud of that fact.
I have found an air mattress that rivals all mattresses. Unfortunately it cost $500 (apparently).
I will send your bit of advice about keeping children’s toys to my mother. She has kept bath toys that I am sure have the original mold in them.
I will be praying for you tonight – that traveling with three young children is (I am sure) a real killer.
play-doh at grandma’s house is ALWAYS as a good idea. 😉
Life lessons a la vacation, love them! Hey, email me about the dates you’ll be in the promised land, I could drive down to see ya!
Great list. Sounds like you’re having a great time. I feel the same way when I visit either of my parents, even though they’re divorced now and living in new homes. Weird. (I really hate that, but it still feels like home to be with a parent.)
My MIL totally saved all the toys. Fortunately, she doesn’t expect the kids to play with all of them. Like the old star wars stuff. Definitely went to the older kids (my husband and his brothers). But she did save my husband’s old rattle, which I think is awesome. They just don’t make them like that anymore.
I remember vacations when I was little. I really woke up early now that I think of it. My poor parents. And their house always feels like home, no matter how much my parents drive me crazy…
Goodness. Our ten days visiting my parents just about did me in and Neil was THERE. You poor tired woman!
And I’m all set and ready to follow tomorrow – lead the way!