Friday, April 11, 2014

Back from Vacation

I survived my vacation sans child.  Well, let me rephrase that... I loved my vacation sans child!  I won a trip to Cabo for being one of the top account executives in my company.  Not only did I get to go with all expenses paid, but I was able to take a guest, so my best friend and I lived it up for four nights!  We'd wake up every morning and just lay in our beds reading books for a couple of hours (we were two hours behind, so we were awake really early Cabo time).  Reading?  What?!?  I used to be an avid reader pre-child as was my friend, but both of us had started reading a book months ago and neither of use was even a quarter of the way through. We'd then slowly get ready to for an amazing buffet breakfast and then head to the beach the rest of the day followed up be either a work dinner or an evening on our own.  It was amazing, and I was able to decompress immediately! 

Sidekick was in great hands at home with my mom.  He loves Grandma, and since she doesn't live in the same state, they really bonded during my absence.  He was perfect with her, and while she was exhausted when I came home, she really enjoyed spending the time with him.  She had a real awakening to what my life is like as a single mom and couldn't imagine adding a fulltime job into the mix.  It was nice that someone other than my connection with other SMCs really "get" it. 

On day three of my trip, I texted my mom and asked if it was bad that I didn't miss Sidekick. Of course I missed him, but I was certainly not that mom that was so obsessed with missing her child that she couldn't enjoy her vacation.  I'd think about him a bit and then move on.  Since I knew he was in great hands between my mom and school, I never worried about him.  I was in complete an utter Zen mode and was able to leave my mommy life behind me. I was so surprised at how easy that really was for me to do.

When my flight landed late Sunday night, I text my mom and told her I needed her to stay a few more days to help me wean back to mommy hood. I honestly knew I'd struggle a bit as I found myself a little sad to be back.  But I got a kick in the pants really quickly as I hit the ground running on Monday morning.

The next morning, I was so excited to see Sidekick.  (He was asleep when I got home.)  I have a twin bed in Sidekick's room and my mom slept in there the night I got home instead of my room, so I could sleep in my own bed.  I went into his room when he woke up, and all he kept saying is "Gramt-ma" (I still can't actually pronounce the way he says "Grandma") over and over again.  He didn't care that I was there... all he wanted was Grandma!  It brought me comfort that he was clearly happy with Gramt-ma, but I was a bit sad that he wasn't that excited to see me!

I had a horrible week back at work, so I was hit with reality as soon as I woke up early Monday morning.  I had a meeting with a customer and a sales presentation on Monday, four sales presentations on Tuesday, and one sales presentation on Thursday among all of my other work responsibilities I have.  I have been exhausted all week.  And to be honest, I had a really hard time transitioning from total relaxation, meals prepared, enjoying peace and quiet for five days to a working single momma 24/7.  I was kind of in a funk this week because I just couldn't get back into the swing of things with Sidekick.  I'm hoping it was because my work week was so bad, but nonetheless, I've struggled getting back into my "real" life.

Tomorrow we are going to an Easter breakfast/egg hunt, so maybe that'll get us back on track while we do a little mother/son bonding. Of course I dread the fact that we are going to have to get moving right away.  Sidekick sleeps until at least 7:45 on the weekends (but I don't usually get him until about 8:15 or 8:30), and this thing starts at 9:00.  I don't want to have to shower, get ready, and get out the door by 8:30 on a Saturday morning. I'm just so tired this week.  But, I know Sidekick will have so much fun, so it'll all be worth it.

So... the moral of the story is:  while vacationing is wonderful, transitioning back to reality sucks ass, especially when you have a kid.

2 comments:

  1. Your vacation sounds lovely - I'm envious! :)

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  2. Sounds like a dream vacation! Give reality some time, you will fall back into the normal rhythm of life soon enough.

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