Recovery

I flew home late Tuesday night with the boys. Flying with children late at night is not recommended. Although I must say my trip was much better than expected. It was probably my easiest time going through security. The boys seemed to be in a trance the first half of the flight. All I have to say is thank goodness for portable DVD players. 

With twenty minutes left on our flight Gavin decided he wanted to sit on my lap. Griffin did not like him coming into his territory. A screaming and pushing fight started and lasted for a good five minutes. Trying to reason with two tired little boys at 10:45 at night is useless. I finally got them settled down, each balanced on a leg with their arms carefully placed so they wouldn't touch each other. I looked around to see quite a few people looking at me.  Their faces were mixed emotion. One man looked annoyed, everyone else had looks of compassion, helplessness, and I even sensed a little admiration from a mom of older boys. I met her eyes, and I gave a big sigh.  She smiled back and told me "You are doing amazing. I can't imagine flying alone with my boys when they were your kids age!" That little comment meant a lot to me. Thank you to the lady on the plane. It is always so comforting to have others understand and appreciate those horrible mom moments!

We survived and were so excited to see dad. Oh how we all missed him. You would think that getting home after midnight the boys would sleep in, but no. Griffin was wide awake at 7:30, which I guess is kind of sleeping in for him. Needless to say, we were all in a daze on Wednesday.  I couldn't even convince Gavin to go to the grocery store with me, which he usually loves. His reply was "I think I will stay here by myself. You can just take Griffin."

We did desperately need milk, the life sustaining substance of our household. This is what finally persuaded Gavin to venture outside. He requested that we walk in the stroller to the store.  So I obliged and headed to 7 Eleven. When I got there I spotted the slurpee machine. There was a summer in high school where my friends and I got a slurpee probably five times a week. We would even travel to different 7 Elevens to find the flavor we wanted. I am pretty sure I had not had one since then. So I treated my self. 

  

Now you would think my kids would be easy to put to nap after having such a short sleeping night. However that would be a wrong assumption. Griffin cried, and cried, and cried. For almost an hour. Gavin amazingly slept through it. I gave in and tried to lay down with him. That resulted in him poking my face and eyes, and playing peek-a-boo with the pillow. I don't understand it. He should have been so tired. I gave up. I don't do that very often with naps. They are my time, and my kids will take them. But that day I just couldn't do it. By evening Griffin was so tired he fell asleep eating dinner. And nothing could wake him up.     

One of my friends once said that "vacations with children are not vacations, but service projects for your kids." I laughed and laughed when I read it. How true it is. It is exhausting, and so much work to travel with kids, but you know what, it is worth it. When I look back at these times, I will hardly remember how tired I was, or all the difficult and stressful moments. I will remember the fun we had, the memories my children got to make with their relatives. I will remember the pure delight a game of bowling brought to their little eyes.  I will remember their laughs at the swimming pool. I will remember the little arms giving hugs to the grandparents they are lucky enough to know and love. And hopefully they will remember too. The exhaustion will fade and I will recover, but the memories we create will always remain.