Timeless

Last night we returned home from our 2 day 1 night mini-vacation.  The kids ran freely through the waterpark.  The Computer Guy and I got to loosen up the firm grip we keep on our big family and become ‘fun parents’ for just a little while.  We all remembered what it felt like to laugh out loud and scream because something is just that much fun.

I spent an entire 2 days not looking at a clock.  For someone as fanatical about being on time as I happen to be, this was a major accomplishment.  We woke up when we were done sleeping.  We ate when we were hungry.  The kids fell asleep when they were worn out.  There were no set bath times, bed times or meal times.  The only thing on our agenda was to play, and we did.

I had an eye-opening moment about how I have trained my children to live by the clock when we were getting ready to leave the house.   The night before I had told them “It’s a 3 hour drive to Dallas.  We can go into the water park at noon, but we’re not in any hurry to leave.  We’ll get there when we do.”  They didn’t believe me.  At 9AM sharp, all of the children were in the car, buckled and waiting.  Since their dad was still in the shower, I shooed them out and encouraged the eating of Pop Tarts and watching of cartoons.  (Yay vacation!)  Ten minutes later, they had once again all congregated in the car.

“We’re going to be late,” the 10 year old worried.  I told him that there is no ‘late’ on vacation, but he gave me a look which said I must be smoking crack or have been abducted by aliens.  What kind of world can exist without the concept of ‘late’?

When lunchtime came on the drive down, we stopped for burgers.  The children sat patiently in the car and had to be told that we really were eating inside.  I frowned a bit at myself.  What kind of life were we giving them that eating inside the burger place was a treat?  As they wolfed down their lunches so that we wouldn’t be “too far behind our schedule”, I decided that while punctuality is good……I may have taken this a bit too far.

I want them to be polite and on time, but I don’t want to rob them of the joy of meandering.  Side trips are so worth while, last minute plans can be the most fun.  Flexibility needs to be built into the calendar and I need to realize that the world will not end if we decide to chuck it all out of the window and go play.

As we settled in at the hotel, I placed all of my time pieces on the shelf beside my husband’s blackberry and I turned the hotel clock toward the wall.  I put aside the burden of running a family for 2 days and just reveled in the fun of it all.

As the Computer Guy and I flew down the “Tornado” on our two person float, I heard us both laugh out loud and whoop with delight.  As we climbed out of the ride at its end, we both giggled like little children.  I saw the dancing delight in his eyes and the smiles on the faces of our children and realized that a few more days of turning off the clocks would be good for us.  I’ve scheduled them in over the next few month.  What?  You didn’t think I’d changed that much did you?  Who do you think we are? Hippies?