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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Two Tickets to Paradise - for 4?


Last night at the end of dinner, the family got in to a discussion of vacations. Now if it were up to me, I'd be in Disney World at least once a year. My husband does not share that dream - and yet, our marriage works. So we grab a notebook - I am a big list maker - and decide that we are each going to pick five places that we'd like to go on vacation that are realistic. Damn, there goes my trip to the Great Barrier Reef! We want this to be an attainable list and so I get comfy on the couch and we begin to discuss.

For as much as I want to be in Disney, my 16 year old son want to go to NY. Why? Because he gets treated like a celebrity when we go home to visit our families up there. Every one makes a big deal, he gets to only do the fun things with everyone, we eat good food and sure, for him, it's a sweet deal. What he doesn't understand is that for every "fun" activity he gets to do, somewhere there's a family member lurking with what I'm sure they consider to be "helpful" comments that suck the life out of the trip for me. There was the time dad pulled me aside to tell me how fat I was getting, or when I made one simple food request to my sister and instead of making it for me, she took it to a friends house and fed it to them! While I was still in the darn state!! But back to the list...the rule is that there is to be no Orlando or Long Island anywhere on the list. So, of course, the 16 year old no longer wants to participate because if he can't go to NY then he wants to go international. Honestly, I don't even think he's trying to be difficult, it just comes naturally.

The 8 year old chimes in with his requests and I think that basically, he's just learning state names because he had no real reasons for chosing those states except that they just sounded good. Okay so we add his states to the list. My husband - who constantly complains about my not taking his feelings in to consideration when planning a vacation, comes up with some good choices - the Grand Canyon, Northern California to see the Redwoods, Alaska and perhaps, Nashville. I can work with that. We're all getting in to the groove and my 16 year old finally gives a non-NY input - Washington state. Now, the only people that we even know in that state is one of my husband's sisters. The one that I don't talk to. The one who I've never gotten along with - and it's mutual. Why? Why would the boy even suggest such a thing? He's clearly got some deep rooted issues with me that involve making me as uncomfortable as possible on any vacation. Why else would his only two choices involve me being insulted at every turn? We should talk to someone about that.

So where are we going to go next? Hee, hee! Actually, I am going back to Disney World before any of the "list" locations. I have a trip planned with my sister, mom, aunt and cousin. My sis and I take a trip to "the World" alone (no husbands, no kids) every 2-3 years. Since mom is living with her now, we invited her to join us. She then invited the aunt and cousin. She may not get invited on a trip with us again if she doesn't watch it! Our trip is in September and I really cannot wait. It's four days to relax and be a kid without having to deal with the realities of every day life. I highly recommend a trip like this to all of you moms out there. I know my husband appreciates me so much more when I get back!

If I had my choice of where the family headed to for our next trip, it would definitely not be NY or Washington (sorry, Nick) but maybe something completely different like a road trip to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio! I'll keep you posted!

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