{"id":51,"date":"2012-08-30T09:41:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T09:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/08\/why-i-fail-at-vacations\/"},"modified":"2012-08-30T09:41:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-30T09:41:00","slug":"why-i-fail-at-vacations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/08\/why-i-fail-at-vacations\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Fail at Vacations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

For the last five years or so, I\u2019ve completely failed at vacationing. \u00a0I get grumpy and annoyed. I have stress dreams.\u00a0 I feel guilty about being grumpy and annoyed and having stress dreams when I\u2019m supposed to be enjoying myself and my family.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a problem.\u00a0 My husband notes that he spends most of the year stressed and then worries about NOTHING during vacation. \u00a0I spend most of the year relatively unstressed, and then act like a fiend the whole time we\u2019re supposed to be resting.<\/div>\n
Some reasons I think I\u2019m a bad vacationer include:\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There\u2019s no such thing as rest for parents:<\/strong>\u00a0Same problem with Sabbaths\u2014what does it mean to rest a day a week when there are still children who need to be fed, entertained, and watched after?\u00a0 Vacations are worse because they\u2019re like many \u201cSabbaths\u201d in a row.<\/li>\n
  2. Everyone wants a part of me<\/strong>:\u00a0 True confession, I kind of just want to be left alone.\u00a0 On vacation, my husband and kids actually want me to relate to (or serve) them.\u00a0 I end up getting less rest than when everyone\u2019s working.<\/li>\n
  3. I just want to read a book<\/strong>\u00a0preferably cover to cover in one sitting.\u00a0 One high school spring break I read 17 novels.\u00a0 By Friday when I finally emerged bleary-eyed into daylight, I realized it probably would have been good to move my body a little during that week.\u00a0 On our honeymoon, Scott and I sat by a pool with our books. \u00a030 minutes later, he said, \u201cOK, let\u2019s go do something.\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cBut I have 350 more pages until I finish. . .\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of negotiation between 30 minutes and however long it takes to finish my latest novel.<\/li>\n
  4. My perfectionist tendencies:<\/strong>\u00a0As a \u201cP\u201d on the Myers-Briggs, I can gather data forever, spend hours on Yelp searching for the best bike shop, the best activities, the best ice cream, the best lobster roll.\u00a0 It\u2019s exhausting.<\/li>\n
  5. My \u201cPake\u201d aversion to spending lots of money<\/strong>.\u00a0 Vacations take money\u2014I feel guilty spending money.\u00a0 (Pake is a derogatory word that means both Chinese and cheap in Hawaii, click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for a blog explaining the concept and a great recipe for mango lassis)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    A friend, hearing about my vacation problems, once said, \u201cIt\u2019s not vacation, it\u2019s a trip.\u201d\u00a0 That helped.\u00a0 \u201cVacation\u201d connotes rest.\u00a0 Trips connote a lot of packing, planning, problems and inconvenient bathroom breaks.<\/div>\n
    This year, our vacation plans in Maine fell through last minute, so we ended up having a week long \u201cstay-cation\u201d and finding a little bungalow on Cape Cod for our 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0week. \u00a0I found that when I embraced the \u201ctrip\u201d analogy, my grumpiness went down.\u00a0 So even though the whining and complaining were astounding when we hiked 3166 feet up Mt. Monadnock, biked 24 miles on the Cape Code Railways Trail and 21 miles on the Shining Sea Trail\u2014hey, that\u2019s what a family adventure\u2019s all about.<\/div>\n
    I did manage to read 5 novels (never cover to cover), found the very best clam shack, and 2 very good homemade ice cream shops.\u00a0 There was only one night when my grumpiness sent everyone out to mini-golf while I stayed home to finish a novel. \u00a0I\u2019d give myself a B-\/C+ for this year\u2019s vacation.<\/div>\n
    But can I say how excited I am that summer vacation ends and school begins next week?<\/div>\n
    You may also be interested in reading:<\/strong><\/div>\n
    Chocolate=Lies, Sex=Truth<\/a><\/div>\n
    Why Photo Albums Almost Killed me This Week<\/a><\/div>\n
    My Theology of Parenting or Why I Gave Up Being God<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
    Mother\u2019s Day Gifts, or Why I Never Get What I Want<\/a><\/div>\n
    This first appeared on What She Said<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For the last five years or so, I\u2019ve completely failed at vacationing. \u00a0I get grumpy and annoyed. I have stress dreams.\u00a0 I feel guilty about being grumpy and annoyed and having stress dreams when I\u2019m supposed to be enjoying myself and my family. It\u2019s a problem.\u00a0 My husband notes that he spends most of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Fail at Vacations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the last five years or so, I\u2019ve completely failed at vacationing.  I get grumpy and annoyed. 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