Returning Home is Complicated

Later I'd like to blog about our Colorado adventures from a novice backpacker's point of view, but for now I'll limit my comments to our return home. Returning home from any trip of one day or more is always such a challenge. First of all, I am now a day behind in my weekly routine.--Monday is normally grocery day, and Tuesday is library day, as Maitlyn can tell you.--So today had to be grocery day, and all of Tuesday's usual chores will now move on to Wednesday. Plus, there's the usual extra laundry. (My sweet mom did wash all the kids clothes before she sent them home, though.)--These things, of course, are a small price to pay for a trip to Colorado.

The hardest thing about returning, by far, is helping the kids adjust back to life in the Harkey home. They had a great time at my parent's house, but it's just hard for them to be away from mom and dad--and in some ways, it's hard for them to come back to mom and dad. To start with, Elspeth now insists on calling me "Grammy". All day for the past two days she has called me Grammy. I'm not offended by it, but it just makes me sad that she needed Grammy to take the place of Mommy while I was away. Elspeth also doesn't want to be away from me, so putting her down for a nap or to go to sleep involves much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Maitlyn has done better, I suppose, but today in the middle of lunch, she burst into tears for no reason. Then she had to go to time out because she spit out some food she didn't want on the floor. It took probably 45 minutes to get her calmed down and happy after that series of events. Before we left on our trip (last Sunday), Maitlyn asked me in the car, "Why don't you want me and Elspeth to go with you to Colorado?" I explained that some hiking trails are difficult and only grown ups can go on them and that mommy and daddy were going to hike on the hard trails. I think she understood that, but still that was a hard question to hear.

On the practical front, I am having to wean the girls from a constant diet of children's television and take out food. Maitlyn asked me today, "What is a special day?" This question was her way of instigating a conversation about going to Sonic on special days and how she thought other days besides Sunday could possibly be special days that we could go to Sonic. (Sonic is our Sunday treat.)

While we were away, I had two very vivid dreams about the girls. Both of them involved the girls being left unsupervised or uncared for. In the second one, I left the girls with a babysitter, and she left them alone at the house for two hours because she had to leave for another commitment.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that my children are scarred for life, and I don't think it was wrong or unwise to leave them with my parents while Brett and I vacationed. In fact, I believe it's valuable for the girls to spend time with their grandparents. And more than that, I think the time that Brett and I shared was important and vital to the health of our family. Leaving our kids is not without it's costs. We can't and won't do it all the time. We generally spend a couple of weeks away from them each year--once for a Brett and Elise only vacation and once for Mission to Mexico.

So, I am hoping that our transitions the rest of this week will go smoothly, that our girls will adjust, and that I'll finish my laundry before Saturday.