Don't Call it a Staycation

“Are you going anywhere for spring break?” That familiar question that I avoid like the plague most years is inevitable. “Please don’t ask,” I’d think to myself. I didn’t want to admit that my boring life would transition into a boring spring break again this year. Usually I get that pang of jealously and envy knowing that just about everyone I know is going to be basking in some sort of sunshine this week. Usually I sit on my laptop and scour Travelocity for great last minute deals because I am so sick of winter. But for some reason this year is different. Oh I’m still sick of winter. As I write this I have the fireplace turned on and the furnace cranked up. But this year I planned things a little bit differently. I scheduled a hair appointment. I saved out some crafts. I set aside a bunch of books that I want to read.  Before I knew it I had enough stuff on my to-do list that I couldn’t imagine going away. I would get my laptop out to look for airfare and then I would think,

            “But when would I be able to do all of this other stuff?” Going away on a vacation started to feel like something more stressful than relaxing. Would I just sit there and think about all of the stuff I could be doing at home? I know I must sound like some weird workaholic or that I’m just in denial. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to sit in the sand on a beach somewhere and just relax? Usually that is me, but this year I’m content to go without it. We have been working on training our dog and I just can’t rationalize giving up a week after we’ve worked so hard to get her where she is.

            I don’t know when I started feeling so much pressure to go on a fabulous spring break every year. It’s definitely harder, living up here in Northern Michigan. The winters are longer and many spring breaks are cold, drizzly and snowy and this year is no different in that respect. But each year that we choose to stay home while everyone else goes, I learn to appreciate the staying more. I don’t even call it a “staycation.” I let the time go by slowly with my family and my dog and my cats and my chickens.  I do wear sweatpants and hoodies and I don’t wear make-up. I don’t worry that I won’t be one of the tan ones.  Am I going anywhere for spring break? Nope. But thanks for asking.

The Best Family Nights are on Two Wheels

Several years ago I wrote a column called “The Best Dates are Spent on Two Wheels.” It was about how Tom and I used to take our motorcycle out on dates when the kids were little. Back then the motorcycle was our getaway from hectic mom and dad stuff that we did. It was kind of our ‘taking a break from the kids’ time alone together. We were deep into the midst of 4H soccer, play dates and all of the business that goes with raising kids.  Now our kids are grown up and instead of wanting time away, we desperately cling to any time we can get with them. The rare evening when everyone is home AND in the same room together is pure happiness for us. The kids have their own interests so it was starting to feel like they had left the nest before they even left the nest. Jobs and responsibilities and active social lives mean they’re gone more then they’re home. I find myself longing for the days of sitting in the bleachers all day and of being needed but at the same time get incredibly annoyed when this grown man says “Mom, what’s for dinner?  I’m hungry!” as he flies in the door to drop stuff off and grab something to eat on his way to the next thing. It won’t be long until my boys, now men, will be moved out and gone and I’ve worried that we won’t get together to just do stuff. It doesn’t seem normal but we haven’t really had common interests with our kids. This one likes music, that one likes sports, and Tom and I like motorcycles. We’ve never been a board game family or a family movie night family. We’ve just always kind of gravitated towards different things.  It’s not bad. It’s just us. As I was just starting to accept that that was “just the way it is,” they got motorcycles. Both of them. Suddenly what was once a Tom and I without the kids thing became a Tom and I with the kids thing. It’s Tom and the boys in the garage together tinkering on their bikes. They talk about modifications and motors. They take off together for a ride around the lake. Even I get to be a part of the fun because I have my own bike too. I’m really looking forward to this summer when we can take a ride up 119 together as a family and have dinner at the Leggs Inn. Just me and my favorite guys. I guess the best family nights are spent on two wheels.