On the Road Again

Today I get to look forward to driving my ass off. I get the pleasure of driving to South Bend, Indiana and back again. And, as if that weren't thrilling enough, I get to the same thing all over again on Sunday!

Oh, wait! I also get to DROP OFF MY KIDS AND SPEND AN ENTIRE WEEKEND DOING WHATEVER I WANT! YIPPEE-KAY-AY!

Actually, before we get too excited here, I don't get to do exactly whatever I want. MG will be out of town. THAT ranks way up there on the suck factor.

Anyway, I will not let that ruin my fun. Aside from mowing the grass and doing pesky little chores like laundry and vacuuming, I plan to throw caution to the wind and enjoy a totally selfish, over-indulging, pajama-wearing good time.

Can you tell how excited I am about this? It's mainly because I need a teeny-tiny break from this single mom thing. Wow - is that hard! There have been many nights when I seriously want to put them all to bed as soon as they step off the school bus. Alas, they remain opposed to this idea and their stubborn little souls are winning this battle. In fact, sometimes I think they are also winning the war.

I'm quite tired of using the threat of capital punishment as a means to make the 12-year-old complete his homework. Well, he claims that the real problem is that somehow, someway, his homework papers, even though they have brilliantly and timely completed, get lost in between study hall and the classroom. This, despite the $223 I spent on folders, binders, reinforcements, notebooks, etc.

I'm fed up with Sumo-wrestling my four-year-old daughter into her clothes every morning, only to find her, three minutes later, buck-naked, standing in my bathroom, glaring at me and professing her profound distaste for my choice of girls fashion...Pop-Tarts, candy, or cookies in-hand.

Not thrilled about the weekly spelling test practice sessions with my first-grader. Those usually end up with both of us in tears. Smarty-pants-in-training, and BOY that he is, sometimes he likes to tell me the wrong answer, just to kid around. You know, because obviously it's HILARIOUS when mommy has an aneurysm.

All of these are very, very bad signs. And possibly precursors to a nervous breakdown. So - the Mom is very much looking forward to this mini-vacation! The kids - well, who cares?! Their stuff is packed and they are set to enjoy a multiple-hour car ride en route to their weekend destination.

Their dad will get to enjoy them for a couple of days. He should have NO complaints. He will not be responsible for their homework during that time. He will not have to launder their clothes. He will not have to play chaffeur.

He will, or at least I think he's planning on, give them baths. Make sure they brush their teeth. Feed them food that is not comprised totally of fat and/or sugar. Make them go to bed at night. Resolve sibling disputes. Walk with them through stores and places of other retail enjoyment, all the while refusing their demands to purchase video games, gum, Spider-Man goo, Barbies, silly string, pixy sticks, etc. Actually, this part would be quite FUNNY to watch!

But anyway, I must not worry about that. So far I've had a wonderful start to the weekend. MG and I had a beautiful morning. And, again, I wanted to wrap him up and take him with me. We are back on-track and everything is good. Yesterday was even better...we spent a few hours just hanging out and doing everyday stuff. And lots of talking. Tons of flirting. Lunch. Ahhhhh. My love for him runneth over.

So I will enjoy the next couple of days doing whatever tickles my fancy. I will look forward to seeing MG on Monday. And I will look forward to picking up three smiling faces in South Bend on Sunday. Maybe I'll have some silly string and pixy sticks waiting for them at home...