Will the kids sleep tonight?
What will they look like when they arrive at school tomorrow?
Will Greenleigh give Erajh a hard time about getting ready for daycare? Why does she have to be so difficult about putting on her shoes, anyway?
Will he remember their backpacks?
Will Erajh be able to drop them off and still make it to work on time?
These are the questions worries racing through my mind as I sit in a hotel room 200 miles away from home. And there are tons more, trust me. Once upon a time, I enjoyed traveling for work. I would fly for client meetings, depositions, seminars, anything. I volunteered for it. I once left for Philadelphia with 3 hours notice to meet with a new client and loved it (Travel Tip: If you don’t want to be all but cavity searched going through security, don’t purchase a ticket 3 hours before hand, and whatever you do, don’t put it on a company credit card. Your welcome in advance.). Now, I will do just about anything to avoid traveling for work. I just can’t get past the worry that comes with it. Unfortunately, this was just one of those trips that couldn’t be avoided.
I’ve been away from my kids overnight before, but in the past, I’ve left the kids with Erajh and his parents or Erajh and his sister. I knew that he had support. This time he’s flying solo. The kids will be fine; I worry for him.
But here’s the thing – There are tons of times when Erajh needs to be gone for an entire day and I take the kids. About once a month, he needs to attend a function at night, and I happily pick them up from daycare, feed them dinner, and put them to bed. Each and every day, I wake them up and bring them to school. It’s no big deal. And yet this one time that he has to entertain them for an afternoon and take them to school the next morning, I’m a mess. Lots of moms travel for work and it’s no big deal. So why do I feel so much guilt? Why do I feel that only I can handle taking care of the kids? Because the reality is, he is their dad and he knows them as well as I do. He loves them. They love him. Sure, they are a handful, but he is perfectly capable. He can handle it. So why must I worry? And it’s clear that I must.
Why is one night away from home such a big deal when it used to be a fun adventure? It’s one night. Just one night.
Signed,
A Working Mom, Needlessly Worrying in Orlando
I am such a needless worrier. My mind always seems to jump to the worst case senario. I’ve been working on “limiting” my worrying. I’m allowed to worry for just a minute, then I have to let it go and not think about it. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. But it’s a start….
I’m a new follower from the Mom’s Monday Mingle blog hop.
Shatzi
http://www.love-and-laundry.blogspot.com
Hey I would have loved to meet up with you for lunch or coffee, but I’m stuck at home today with a sick child 🙁 wishing you safe travels back. I’m sure the girls are doing great!
So funny…wait, was it supposed to be funny?? Perfectly normal, but I don’t know why we do that. One of my favorite anecdotes came from my best friend. When asked where her husband and child were, she said that he had taken their son to the pediatrician. The person was all “Wow! That’s so awesome that he did that!” and she was like, he’s an adult! He can take himself to the doctor, he can’t take another person? What the heck? Men get solid props for just surviving through a day without maiming themselves or others. Two kids in tow? HEROES.
Hope you have a safe, worry-free rest of your trip! Erajh will be great. Exhausted, but great. 🙂
I can totally related to this post, before having kids I traveled for work to a whole different country , for a whole week. Man it was nice to be away to have a chance to miss my husband. But after having kids I had to travel to a different state for two days and it was so hard to do. It was the first time I had left my kids with their dad and I was so nervous. In the end everything turned out ok but just now sure why it is so hard when we have kids
I did great, but we shouldn’t make this a regular thing. :-).
Hi Jennifer,
I was recently awarded the Liebster Blog Award and I’m passing it on to you. I really enjoy reading your blog. I’ve got a 16 month old and 3 year old so I can relate a lot to what you are saying. Please read more about the award here: http://melanieotg.ca/m/blog/liebster-blog-award/ Your blog isn’t a smaller-scale blog but I thought you could still benefit from a bit more visibility I hope to throw your way 😀
All the best!
Melanie
Hi Melanie! Thank you so much for the award! No matter how it looks, I’m definitely a small blog and I appreciate when people take the time to read and/or comment. I will be sure to pass the award on to brighten someone elses day the way that you’ve brightened mine. Thank you again!
Jennifer