Summer of Our Discontent- Embrace The Vacation Horror

I read an article on National Review on-line that I think parents of young children will really appreciate. It is by Jennifer Graham and you can go here to read the entire article. I thought I would share a little bit from it that I thought was really good.

The concept of summer vacation is terrific. Who doesn’t need a break from routine? There are no buses to catch, no lunches to pack, and the day beckons pleasantly: Come! Abandon all homework ye who enter here! Scamper about the lawn with your children; play croquet and eat ice cream! Here loom two glorious months in which to sun ourselves on rocks, grill instead of bake, and drift off to sleep at night without wondering if we truly understand gerunds and participles. Are we smarter than our fifth graders? Who cares? It’s summer, time for fun!

This happy state of mind lasts about an hour.

By 10 A.M., reality descends, and the 13-year-old returns to bed with a sore throat, the 8-year-old proclaims boredom, and the first thunderstorms of the season arrive, depositing enough e-coli in the local lakes to close them for the rest of the week.

It is said that parents don’t go on vacations; they only take trips. For example, our family drives 17 hours every summer to spend two weeks at the beach. It is not a vacation. It is merely a relocation of the laundry.

I can really relate to that last sentence. We go on trips with children, we do not go on vacation. Vacations leave you relaxed and ready to face the realities of life and work. We are so exhausted after going on "vacation" that we need two weeks to recover. We leave the comforts of home to sleep in unfamiliar beds so we do not get much sleep. The kids do not know it is "vacation" and so they can sleep-in so they are up and bored so they get everyone else up. As we contemplate our summer vacation this year I long for those day trips to the beach. I like doing shorter trips with our kids so I have time to come home and recuperate.