This used to be a pretty good time of year for me. Since my husband traveled a lot for work, our family didn't get to spend as much quality time together as we would have liked. One of the ways we over-compensated was to take one fabulous vacation every year. That usually happened over our kids' Spring Break. Like every other crazy family trying to squeeze in a vacation during our children's school holidays, we overpaid for ridiculously crowded hotels in warm, exotic locales. I have to say - I kind of miss it.
Don't get me wrong; I don't miss having to take vacations when everyone and their brother does. The fact that my husband and I are now on our own makes for spontaneous (and infinitely cheaper) getaways. But I do miss the planning, the anticipation, and the looks on our kids' faces when they stepped into our home away from home for the first time. Once, we even had adjoining rooms where they could raid their very own mini-bar (which was included - I didn't need to see those rapturous looks enough to pay $10 for a Hershey bar!) We all loved the change of scenery and the chance to interact with one another away from TV, computers and telephones. Well, maybe our son didn't love it as much as the rest of us but he humored us enough to make us think he did. Anyway, the point is that those weeks turned out some memorable moments worth every penny those shyster vacation mongers charged us. So while most of my friends and co-workers are off enjoying the crowded sunshine with millions of other together-time starved families, I'll have to settle for sitting outside in unseasonably warm Illinois flipping through old photo albums.
And there will be a part of me waiting impatiently for a couple of grandchildren to get the chance to do it all over again.
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