getting away and unwind: quality time with family

Most people, who are parents, would recognize and identify the feeling of anticipating what life will be like when your child is born.

Then, one day, you wake up from the trance everyday domesticity cast upon you, you watch your child and wonder “Just how did he/she grow up to be so big, already? What happened to everything I planned on doing with my child? What about the treasured moments I held out expectations of?”

“How could I miss out on making that newborn baby plaster cast of my baby’s hand and foot? How could I miss out on collecting ANY of those mementos I looked forward to sigh for and display.?”

Moments passed and lost forever. You realize you can’t turn back the clock and live those hours, days, weeks, months, years over again.

When I look back, what I regret the most is the hurry. During those flustered musts and doings we lived through, in order to let the kids participate in as much as possible, I feel like we just briefly took a glance, rather than experience. We didn’t calm down to enjoy life... we just lived it.

But when on vacation, after that first week when I learned how to lower my shoulders and put timeschedules aside, I am grateful to say we unwind. We took the time to relax and just inhale the spirit of just being at ease.

Or, did we? I can’t say I remember much from our vacations. Not when I really think back. I remember what I see when looking through our photo albums. Albums where I have glued in programs, tickets, tiny objects picked up here and there, along with the pictures, where careful notes are written down... at least on those first four pages.

The panic when packing and you have to explain your kid he can’t bring an entire suitcase stuffed with toys, and definitely not the teddybear the size of himself (never plays with it, either, but found it when packing and just felt he needed it for the trip).

The passports just disappear 10 minutes before you HAVE TO rush out the doors, and just in time you find them in that small pocket in your bag, where you always keep them when travelling.

I have a special bag when travelling; it has room for everything, and then some, and is very convenient.

Being a mum means that you end up being a beast of burden. Even though all the kids have their own rucksack, I end up with all the waterbottles and small matters they collect and buy.

It stresses me to always carry a heavy bag, when what I really want to do is to just carry my camera, and keep cash and credit card in a pocket. Especially when I am always trying to keep track of where my lovely ones are at all times. (I am not a tall person so after three days my neck feels four inches longer than it does the rest of the year.) And my eyes get that wandering, searching gaze you recognize all parents on holidays by.

The feeling of being disoriented is intensifies by the numerous free, and bought, maps which you get hold on to get where you want and do and see what you want at site. They are very seldom updated, and toilets nearby are forgotten about. Everybody with kids knows how important it is to know where those facilities are at... they are needed NOW, preferably ten minutes ago.

Those things have completely slipped my mind... also the fact that I never look sharp when travelling with my family: sticky sunscreen, melting ice cream and sand everywhere are never becoming.

Just struck me now: the things I have no pictures of, but which characterize our holidays the best, are bags, maps and wet wipes...