Besides Christmas, it's the most wonderful time of year - the family vacation. We do not take our yearly pilgrimage to the land of sand and sea until October, so after seeing everyone else's summer pictures, we are ready to GO! And everyone else's pictures show matching outfits, splashing water with smiles and giggles, everyone enjoying all of the great food the gulf has to offer at restaurants where the kids are all behaving. Yeah, that's what the pictures show. So when I look at those, I think yeah... vacation.... ahhhhhhh life is good.
But, ya'll, it's the same old thing year, after year, after year. The thrill of vacation excitement is quickly squashed by the reality of one thing: that's not our reality. And quite frankly, I bet that's not most people's reality. Pictures are funny things, huh? But every year, I set myself up to have these expectations of me relaxing and me doing what I want to do. I spent a lot of vacations not having the best time, because my expectations were never met.
See, I was forgetting one little word in the whole family vacation thing..... FAMILY!
A family vacation means living out your life together in a different location with better views and food. The same baggage is there because we are all imperfect people, and no amount of amazing gulf views and all-you-can-eat seafood buffets is going to change that.
This realization didn't hit me until we were about 4 days into our vacation. I was laying in a blanket with my girls on our beach house deck one night. The stars were so bright and beautiful. I listened at Madeline described them to me through her eyes...
We see the stars at night, but they wear camouflage during the day like Gekko from PJ Masks.
And she kept describing the sky and was so excited to see each and every one. In that moment God gave me this small revelation: this is family vacation - being with and enjoying my family. Autism and ADHD make vacation more difficult and less relaxing, but instead of focusing on that - God gave me a moment into Madeline's inquisitive little mind and how she sees the world. I hate it when I take those moments for granted, and I'm thankful I have that sweet memory.
So, yes.......
- Norah peed at midnight, then woke up at 4am crying because she didn't like the new panties I put on her.... they weren't pink.
- Madeline didn't go to sleep until 2 am the first night and never recovered, so we had 2 days of complete meltdowns.
- Both of my children made dinner time quite the "experience." I believe there were endless screams over not getting a certain pink plate?
- Autism and ADHD still vacationed with us - they don't take breaks.
- Alcohol and coffee were both consumed before noon. (Hey, it's vacation... right?)
But........
- Norah overcame her fear of the ocean, tackling those killer gulf waves.
- Madeline was able to swim in the pool and dive for toys.
- I was able to sit at the dinner table every.single.night with my family.
- I was able to watch the sunrise and sunset with my 2 girls each and everyday.
- I learned more and more about my children's little personalities.
- I got to sit and watch the waves crash while answering Norah's questions about God and creation.
- I witnessed Madeline improve her social skills as she interacted with others at the beach.
- Our awesome families helped out so much by doing activities with the girls.
- My sweet husband and I were a team all week. Spending time with him without his work computer was pretty amazing.
So from now on, I think I'm going to have a different family vacation perspective: savor that precious week with my family - my loud, energetic, perfectly imperfect family...... and plan my 15 year anniversary cruise..... hey, it's only 3 years away... :)
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