Post Vacation Hangover

Our little expedition is over and everyone is where they are supposed to be. The kids are with their mom and Joey, Spot, and I are here. There are many things left to unpack and clean up around here though. And I am not just talking about from the camping trip.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I am not a big fan of vacations. While I enjoyed being away and having my kids all to myself (although I will admit that there was a lot of coping happening on day one of the trip), I prefer the ebb and flow of my daily routine to "events" like vacations or holidays. I also dread the post vacation hangover.

Vacations provide an escape from the everyday...and as wedded as I am to the everyday I admit to finding it as something of a relief to not have to hustle after business or search for for a job. Now I have to jump right back into the reality pool. Something tells me that the water is cold.

Just as cold and just as jarring is that my kids are not here. Whether they have their kids or not, all parents are on duty all of the time. However, I suspect many divorced parents feel this way, that there is something amiss when the kids are not around. When I moved I had set up my life to be the full time parent. In April, when their mom got better, I had re-arranged my life be able to take care of my kids during the week and have the weekends to myself. Having the weekend to myself really never happened as I had to play chauffeur for my kids because my ex wife had not been driving. But she is now driving again so for this weekend my chauffeur's hat can remain on its hook.

So I am in the midst of a seventy two hour stretch that belongs to me and me alone. I have no idea what I am going to do.