The Vacation Effect

This vacation thing is really great, on so many levels, and in multitudinous ways. I know I wrote about the Vacation Effect last year (since we were at a water park I referred to it as Zero-Depth Stress), but I can't help myself. It bears repeating.

I feel like I enjoy my kids more on vacation than I do in real life. I have so much more physical and emotional energy for them, and so much more patience than I normally do, because I'm not expending it on work and household crap and homework.

Yesterday Mr. Peevie and C. Peevie went for a long bike ride, about 25 miles. I asked C.P. about it later, and he said it was really great. I could tell he was thrilled to have his dad all to himself for four-plus hours.

Later, he asked me to sit on the couch with him, while we both read--just to get in some together time with mom. It made my heart melt. While we were sitting there, each immersed in our own worlds of fiction, he looked over at me and said, "I have the best family in the world."

I put my arm around his shoulder and squeezed. "I'm glad you think so, buddy," I said. "Ow, ow!" he said, pulling away and wincing. He had badly bruised his arm and shoulder while driving very aggressively on the go-cart track earlier that day, and causing a collision with another too-aggressive driver. Me.

Best Mom Ever.

We're less stressed about bedtimes than usual, because we don't have to be anywhere in the morning. When A. Peevie asks me to take him to play hoops, I don't tell him I've got too much laundry or too many dishes to do. When M. Peevie desires one more dip in the pool on the way home from the beach, I'm all hey! what the heck! we're on vacation! We can do what we want.

This place, Sleepy Hollow, is really a fabulous place to experience the Vacation Effect. Cute cottages; grassy, spacious landscaping; beach access; pool; organized activities for kids. Tonight, after all 11 of us played baseball on the lawn between our cottages, we all headed down for our own personal campfire on the beach.

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh. Vacation. It makes me think I might never yell at my kids again.