Edgy Mama: Staycation, destress

So it’s spring break for Asheville City Schools, and what are we doing?

Nothing. We’re having a trendy recession-era staycation.

Actually, the kids are the true staycationers, because I’m going to New York City for a long weekend with girlfriends (hallelujah), and then Enviro-spouse will travel to Germany for work.

But the kids will be hanging at home for spring break, which, really, is how they like it. And how I like it. Particularly after what’s been, for a variety of reasons, a stressful few months (“snow” is my new four-letter word).

Also, because even though they’re older now, traveling with my kids still can be stressful. Lots of you lovely readers have told me about parents who backpack across Africa with their twin babies in tow and think nothing of 24-hour flights with toddlers. I am seriously impressed, and, at the same time, grateful, that I’ve not had the guts to try anything similar.

Because so far, some of the worst experiences I’ve had with my kids have been while traveling.

There was the time my baby girl vomited all night in Charleston. I got in the car the next morning and drove her straight to our doctor’s office in Asheville. She vomited the entire way. She was so dehydrated when we arrived that they almost hospitalized her, but an hour or so after a shot of penicillin, she was able to keep some breast milk down, so I was able to take her and all of our barf-soaked clothing home.

There was the time our plane got stuck on the runway in Charlotte for three years (well, it felt like that), and the evil flight attendant told me that I must hold my irritable, energetic 2-year-old on my lap for the entire time, even though the plane was not moving a centimeter.

There was the time we were caught in a random hailstorm driving up the Saluda grade and almost slid off the side of the mountain.

There was the time we lost the boy in the Atlanta airport, which I’ve already written an entire column about. My heart scar from that experience still aches at the memory.

And there have been at least 40 trips to random doc-in-the-boxes in random towns followed by searches for random pharmacies that take ages to get health insurance approval. Ugh.

I’m sure many of you have worse kid travel horror stories. I’m sure many of you have great kid travel stories too. In fact, I probably have some great kid travel stories. I just can’t remember them.

OK, that’s not quite true. There have been some fairly uneventful extended family beach trips over the past few years.

That said, I’m really happy about taking a little vacation myself, then coming home and staycationing with my kidlings. After the past few months, I think we’ll be happy not to have to go anywhere or do anything. We’re going to walk in the woods, catch a matinee, eat lots of popcorn and pizza, read books and play with the dog. Sometimes boring is necessary.

Y’all let me know about your spring break adventures this week. I hope you all have wonderful tales without illness or strife.

And I hope to have nothing interesting to tell you about our week.