Camp Grandma Underway!

Well, I did it. I left my children with my parents and drove away back home to Pittsburgh. I almost backed out and brought my Felix back with me–when I got up in the morning he ran over and asked me to cuddle him and I just melted into a pile of mush.

Pictures like this one from my mom help me not worry about them...toooooo much.

Pictures like this one from my mom help me not worry about them…toooooo much.

But, as my husband keeps reminding me, I haven’t slept in years. The past few months have been particularly harsh on the sleep front, and I’m pregnant. I need to think about me and my new, unborn baby. So I beeped the horn and drove away as the kids drove around on the Power Wheels.

I was focused a lot on my milk: Felix was just about weaned, but then contracted croup and has been sick for three weeks, nursing frequently again. Even though I’m 24 weeks pregnant, I worried I’d get engorged given our cold-turkey separation. But once we were at my parents’ house for the weekend, he was too busy to nurse anyway. He nursed to sleep the night before I headed back and that was the last time he even asked.

I sat for a long time in the rocking chair just enjoying the moment in case it was our last time. Knowing him, he’ll probably start back up again when I pick him up on Thursday. Or maybe he won’t!

Frequent text messages and pictures help me see what a good time they’re having at Camp Grandma, and my goodness! It’s easy to get things done at home when it’s just me to think about. I really can’t recall the last time I was alone in my house.

As soon as I got home, I cleared out all their heaps of junk mail and stashed bits of paper and broken chunks of plastic (“treasures,” they call them). I rotated the toys and books that we have out on the shelves. I washed the dishes, did the laundry, went grocery shopping. All of this in about 2 hours. I’d forgotten how quickly it’s possible to do things without little hands and feet “helping” along the way.

This morning, I got up at seven and started work right away, just because I could. By noon, I’ll have done as much work as I usually get a chance to do in a whole school day.

So far, this experience has taught me that I need to get a bit more childcare than I currently have–it would be nice to complete my paid work all during the day instead of having to finish up the bits and pieces at night after everyone’s gone to sleep.

I’ve also remembered what I love most about my kids. This restorative sleep break has been really healthy for me. I’ve been just so run down that I’ve had a super short fuse. Quick to anger, I haven’t been the best mama I can be, and we’ve all had long and frustrating days of late. I’m excited to reunite with my babies on a full tank and see how our days unfold.

Have you ever sent your kids off to Camp Grandma for a few days? Leave us a comment to share what you appreciated most about the vacation. 

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