I STILL Need A Vacation

I went back and read this entry from March 2018, titled "I Need A Vacation."

It's been over four years since that was posted.

The closest I've gotten to a true vacation since that was posted was about three days over a weekend that I spent helping a friend do something out of state. There were some relaxing hours, but it wasn't like the whole thing was relaxing. It was a lot of work. But at least I got to hang out with my friend.

My kids have, separately, spent time away with family, like a few days or a week at a time. My wife has taken one of the kids for a long weekend convention a couple of times. I took one of the kids to an event a couple hour's drive away that involved an overnight away. I also took one of the kids on an exhausting field trip that lasted multiple days. One of the kids has been away for camps lasting almost a week at longest.

We haven't had a family vacation.

We haven't had a couple's vacation.

I haven't had a vacation for me.

We've done some fun things as a family that haven't taken us away from home for the better part of a day. These excursions aren't relaxing for me because I have to handle my wife and keep track of the kids.

It's extremely rare for my wife and I to so much as go to dinner without the kids.

There are many reasons for all of this. It isn't that I haven't suggested more dates with the wife. It isn't that I wouldn't want to take family trips.

For one thing, It's the reality of having pets. I expressed reluctance about getting more pets as our previous pets neared the end of their lives, precisely because of the restrictions it would place on travel, the expense, and the mess. And I was right, but basically I was overruled.

More so, though, it's the reality of the family dynamics. We haven't been able to leave the kids with the same babysitter, meaning we have to make multiple arrangements to have the kids with others, and taking the kids along for things makes everything more expensive, of course.

And of course some of the time we were under lockdowns.

What has really helped the last couple of years is working from home, which has only been successful because I've been able to go into a home office and close the door, and only be interrupted with texts and knocks on the door. Fortunately, I can still work well even as I have to "put out fires" and handle interspersed chores and errands. It has been a help to NOT have to commute for work and attend in-person meetings that also required driving from one place to another. In that sense, the lockdowns and subsequent enabling of remote work have been a help to me.

Still, as the week goes along, I find myself getting exhausted and needing downtime. But I don't want my kids stuck at home all the time, so I take them places and that's tiring for me.

I STILL need a vacation. No vacations are planned.

This is the life of husband and father.