Homecoming Stories

We returned this morning from our adults-only, child-free vacation to Las Vegas.   My in-laws had been with our children for over five days and we were wondering how things went.   We knew it went well from the text messages with pictures we received but we were still glad to be home.

We didn’t talk to our children once during the whole trip.   I know a lot of parents call their children and talk to them each night.   We had friends doing some face timing with their daughter on her birthday.  It is only right now as I write this paragraph that I realized we didn’t talk to them the entire time.    I left a message on Nana’s phone once and told the children we missed them, loved them and knew they were having a fantastic time without us, but that was it.

And the children were completely happy.  They went to a zoo.   They got musical watches.   My son even learned how to dance—but more on that later.  I got an email from Nana earlier that said she meant to tell us that the children found our framed wedding picture at their house this weekend.   She said they liked to carry it around with them.    But I think the important thing is that our children aren’t anxious about being without us.   They can have a great time and not be worried about where we’ve gone or how long it will be until we come home.  

I didn’t suffer from separation anxiety a lot as a child from what I can remember, but the few times I did, it’s not at all fun.   I’m glad the children were too busy having a great time to worry about us.

The Big Boy Update:   On the way home from school my son suddenly and quietly said, “mom, I missed you.”   He then asked me about the hound dog.   I told him I did know about the hound dog song and that I heard he could dance to it.   He told me about a second song he’d learned all about from Nana and Papa while we were gone, including how to get the song to play in the kitchen.   He told me, “you have to say, ‘Alexa, play Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis Presley.’”  He showed me his dance moves when we got home, although I told him he was not allowed to stand on the bar to dance, even if Elvis Presley had done so back in the day.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   My daughter and I were in the bathroom working on her hair after coming home to see each other after five days away.   I told her, “I missed you.”   She replied, “I missed you too.  How was your race?”   After that she went to a hidden spot and pulled out two lego structures she had made and told me they were presents for dad and me.   Mine was an excavator.