This blog was archived from July 11, 2016.
While I was out in LA work work, my kiddos were at church camp with my parents - how fantastic is that? What an experience they had. Four days and three nights with their grandparents and the church out north past Sacramento. Am I a crazy parent for allowing this? Umm... are YOU crazy? I do not know about you, but I LIVE for moments like this. Before even having children I knew that they would be loved immensely by the people who love Jeff and I, and how great is it for them to spend time away and bond with their grandparents and vis versa?
Maybe it's because of our work, or because in this country you don't get much time off to be at home once you've given birth/had a baby ... but with both babies, I was back working and shooting weddings within 2-3 weeks. Totally my fault btw for getting pregnant in the late Summer/Fall and having babies close to the start of wedding season... but that's another story you will likely not hear details on.. Regardless! My kids had to get used to other people watching them who weren't mommy and daddy. And it was hard on Jeff and I, but were we kinder, more patient, and more loving once we were home from work? Honestly, you'd have to ask my kids that. You know, their baby selves with those amazing baby memories we make. -_- So there's my initial thought on the subject: It's going to be tougher on you than on the baby... always. I believe that there is a reason we don't remember much about our first few years on earth, it gives parents time to get their acts together and make those mistakes without them being hung over their heads their entire lives. How resentful can some of us be towards our parents for something they did when we were twelve? Fifteen? Think about that for a second. Can you IMAGINE remembering the exact day your mom accidentally left you on a bumbo on the kitchen table, ran to grab the laundry basket for a second and then you decided that was the day you were going to roll over for the first time and by the time she got back to the kitchen you were an inch away from falling over?! Or perhaps let you roll off the bed in to the laundry basket below and then thanked God over and over that it was there or else who knows what would happen?! (PS you will never know if these stories are real or not, it could be an example or factual but you will never know and the baby will never remember!)
I know I know.. I'm satirical and cynical at times but life has to be entertaining. If you're reading and don't really know me, you're thinking: this lady's children are better off with strangers anyways!
How else has this been beneficial to me? Well, all my friends who are now having babies of their own, were able to be involved in the lives of my children. The bond my kids were able to make with their glorified "aunties and uncles" from all over has built up their confidence and kept them unafraid of human beings, or any form of "newness" that enters their lives. They will be survivors, I just know it, in their wit and means to adapt. Needless to say, their coping skills are pretty advanced, and I love it!
To those who haven't been following or "keeping up" (not that you should be, really boring over here!), my life is such that I usually work on weekends, and Mon-Fri, as long as I am done with my edits, I like to get out. Out of the house. Out of the state. Heck! If I see over 3 weeks of freedom on a calendar I sometimes like to get out of the country. Sometimes I take my kids. Sometimes I don't. I can sit there, I can sit and think of the HUNDREDS of things that can go wrong. Or I can take the trip, say my prayers, and when the doors to whatever final destination await I can throw my bags to the ground and hug my family. I can hold them tight and after all of the "I miss you's!" and "I love you's!" we sit and share about our adventures away. I don't mean* to be the poster parent for: YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND HAVE CHILDREN, but I am told so very often that I give people who don't yet have children.. hope! Because you know what guys?! You CAN have it all, you CAN continue to go places with or without your children. It's the fear, it's all in your head, it's all that could go wrong that never will that's holding you back from LIVING.
So that was your quick, weekly reminder to TAKE THE TRIP. Take all kinds. Take the kids. Leave the kids. But if you are* going to leave the kids... be sure to leave them every now and then on their own little adventures. Cheers everyone!
***Below are some photos of the kids the other day with their grandpa - learning how to fly kites! Then farther down the blog you'll see some iPhone snippets of their "glamping" adventures with my parents. The fun they had, the memories they made together, I'm so grateful and happy that they are looking forward to more of the same! ♥
