This weekend, Pat and I are having our first night away from Ben. Talk about an emotional time!! I have so many feelings washing through me right now. Where we are going is a surprise. Pat handles our anniversary celebrations, so he has it all planned out. All I know is the timing so I can prepare Ben’s stuff.
I am super excited to be going on a little get away. Pat and I take some trips during the year. We have to because his family lives so far away. We travel to see his parents and to see his sister. This past summer we went out to Washington for my cousin’s wedding. Sometimes we head up to Minnesota to see my brother. But we rarely go on any sort of trip just the two of us. In fact I think the last time we did was for our honeymoon. We went to Jamaica, and it was amazing. Wait, I think we did an overnight at Starved Rock a couple of years ago. Still, the point is that we don’t go many places just the two of us. It would be nice if we could, but it isn’t a necessity. Don’t get me wrong, we love to travel. But we value family more. Any time or money we can give to vacationing goes to seeing family. I stand by that decision, but it makes the idea of going somewhere just the two of us even more exciting.
I am also super nervous about leaving Ben. I know this is something every parent has to go through eventually. As much as I want to be with him non stop, I know it is good for me to have a little time away from him. It might not seem like it, but I do think it is good for Ben too. He needs to see that Daddy and Mommy can be away for a short time, but we always come back and he is well cared for while we are gone. I honestly think it is healthy for Ben to have some separation from me. The longer we put it off, the harder it will be. So now is a perfect time to get away.
Can you tell I am trying to make myself feel better? He will be safe and sound with my parents. It is funny that I am leaving them a huge list of instructions and Ben’s schedule. I mean, I am obviously alive and well. So my parents my have some idea of what to do with a child. Not only that, my brother is alive and well, so they are two for two. Somehow leaving your child, even in capable hands, is still hard.
I am really grateful for my parents for watching Ben. Not only can I rest assured he is well cared for, they accept my over instructing them in what to do. I think a few hints are helpful. They aren’t around early in the morning, or at bed time. They don’t know what is normal for Ben in the middle of the night. But the most helpful thing is letting me tell them. Ben is so lucky he gets to see his Meo and Omi almost every day. But by seeing them every day it could be easy for my parents to offer up a little too much ‘advice.’ Meo and Omi are great because they let Pat and me be the parents. We don’t do everything the same way they did back in the day, we do it our way. And Meo and Omi respect that. Pat’s parents do as well. We are very lucky to have such supportive grandparents in Ben’s life.
I know this weekend is going to be great. It is only one night apart, technically less than 24 hours. And Ben should be sleeping for a large portion of that. (Fingers crossed he has a good night!) He will have so much fun. I think Meo and Omi will have fun spoiling their grandchild. Pat and I will have fun spending time together just the two of us, and we will have fun remembering back 5 years ago to the wonderful night we got married. I am looking forward to posting some good reports from our trip.
Now, how about some pictures? Pat visited Ben and me at work. I love my little family so much!
–Kim