I'm BACK!!!
We arrived home midday from our week-long vacation! It was a great week in Ocean City, NJ (even with the sibling fighting to kick it off and end it and my strange stomach issue in-between). We had great weather, good times, a gorgeous rental and made fantastic memories.
We fit a lot in this summer and still, with these last 48 hours to go, we've got more packed in! A wedding, a hang-out with friends, pool time, first day of school clothes shopping and maybe something that will stress my husband out, like a very expensive and extreme boat trip 200 miles away that we just have to do.
(We don't let go of summer easily!).
Anyway, now that we are post-vacation, I have a clear(ish) head and have some post-vacation proclamations!
Proclamations are a bit of a family tradition!
About once a week, my mother opens her apartment door with a grand twist of the door knob and reads a demand from a piece of paper to us. Once she has completed this official reading, she places her demands on the kitchen island and returns to her apartment. We are then expected to comply within 24 hours. Usually it is a demand for "burgers on the grill" or "new pantyhose" for her birthday. Sometimes, it might be something more serious, like "your relative has died!"
So, in the spirit of my mother, here are my post-vacation proclamations, a mixed bag of serious and not-so-serious:
1. I love my children!
Yesterday when I was lying in my bed with moaning about my stomach, I kept thinking just how great my children were and how much I loved them. I thought about how kind and sweet and loving they were. Then when I woke up, they immediately began fighting over the TV remote, someone cut their hand with a razor "by accident," and then immediately began screaming that they did not want "soap" in their "by accident, I swear, cut," and then another ran around 58th St. in Ocean City screaming, "I AM NOT A MONSTER," in a voice that was very monstrous.
So, I love them so much. The great part is subject to interpretation.
2. TEXAS! SCOTUS! WTF!
Okay, I am really not surprised about the abortion law in Texas nor am I surprised about the Supreme Court decision to uphold the law. But, I am disappointed. The world is such an imperfect, fallen place and while the idea of an abortion is horrible, it represents an option for women (and girls!) who are in impossible situations. I am sick of people using their moral superiority to condemn others.
My aunt was raped and became pregnant in the late 1940s. My Dad, fresh from World War II, together with one of his brothers, arranged for her to have an illegal abortion. He told me this story when I was 14 years old. I asked him what happened to the man who raped her. The answer, of course, was nothing. But, my aunt, everything happened to--and not just the rape, pregnancy and abortion, but the illegal, risky abortion.
For a man, the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy, at least in Texas, continue to be nothing.
3. The Pandemic Travel Restrictions ARE ANNOYING!
Our superintendent just announced, last week, that the travel quarantine rules are back in effect! So if we travel outside of the PA, NY, DE, NJ area, our unvaccinated children (i.e. Nicholas) has to quarantine for 7 days and test for COVID before returning to school. It is completely idiotic. First of all, there are several families that I know who are traveling right now, out of the quarantine-state area, and were gone before the proclamation was made. Secondly, I was down the shore all week. There were people from EVERYWHERE all over. How is that different than if I went to Virginia?
It isn't.
4. ALWAYS TAKE DAYS OFF AFTER YOUR VACATION!
Normally, I at the end of my vacation, I am riddled with anxiety and begin preparing for my work week. This time, I am relaxed and mentally able to handle unpacking, relaxing and enjoying life! While we benefit from the long holiday week, I also decided that I'd take off Tuesday and Wednesday (not completely, but quietly, no meetings!) in order to be mentally ready to ease back into life and get the kids off to school. I am so glad I did! I know I'll work both days--but it is low pressure, get organized and get your head in the game work. In the end, this will make me more efficient and better at my jobs the rest of the week. (I mean, I think. I could also become overwhelmed, anxious and hysterical).
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