The Sting of Reality

     Know what really sucks about coming home from vacation after a week? EVERYTHING!  Even though we were just down at my parents’ house for a visit, I have truly been living in fantasy land for seven days now.  I didn’t have to clean, do laundry or go grocery shopping!  I had people cooking for me every single night!  I had other people to entertain my kids besides myself!  Wait — what the hell was I thinking?  Why is it that I came home again??!!

     The single most unappealing thing about coming home for me is the unpacking.  I absolutely loathe putting away all the wrinkled, unworn clothes that have gotten all balled up in our suitcases.  I never know if I should wash them again or just pray that the wrinkles somehow magically disappear while hanging in the closet.  Plus, any time we take a car trip, I always pack five thousand different snacks for the kids that also have to be returned to their rightful jam-packed resting place in the pantry.  And every time I do, I wonder why on earth I packed so many damn snacks in the first place!  I also end up kicking myself for telling my kids to pack some things in their backpacks to take along with them.  They always end up cramming their bags full of the most random things they can possibly find, which then end up scattered throughout the floor of the car by the time we finally get home.    

     As if the unpacking wasn’t bad enough in and of itself, there’s also the insane amount of laundry that has piled up from our week in make-believe world.  I typically just cram all of our dirty laundry into one giant trash bag to bring home with us.  So, I then get the unbridled pleasure of sorting through the giant mess of darks, whites and every other color in the rainbow.  I find myself wondering if skipping laundry for a week was all that it was cracked up to be.  

     And then, there’s the inevitable trip to the good old grocery store. Being gone for a week equals a refrigerator full of nothing but condiments.  I typically remember this as I’m about to start preparing a meal for my kids, and then I realize that, OH CRAP, WE HAVE NO FOOD IN THE HOUSE!  The last thing I want to do after coming off an out of town trip is to think about meal planning.  I am soooo NOT a meal planner.  My parents had every single meal planned out for the entire week, and I’m not just talking main dishes — I’m talking side dishes, desserts, and the whole nine yards! I couldn’t even tell you what we’re having for dinner tonight, let alone in two days.  It was so nice to have someone else who was willing to do all that thinking for me for a change.  Now that it’s back to reality, I get to meander through the grocery store trying to rack my brain with menu selections.  

     All of this back-to-the-real-world stuff can really knock your socks off. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and buried in things to do. Do you think maybe I should just go back to bed and pretend I’m still on vacation?            

                                     < S-M-A-C-K! >

 Well, thanks a lot, reality, for clearing that up for me….