I’m a SAHM: Resetting from Vacation

My two kids and I recently got home from a 4-day vacation to St. George, Utah with my family. Sun, warmth, relaxation, and little-to-no schedules were involved in this spring break getaway. After being home for a couple of days I’m convinced I can never go on a vacation again because the adjustment back to our normal routine is basically non-existent so far. It has been a lot of work and will continue to be a lot of work as we try to get back in the swing of things! Perhaps sometime soon this will be a distant memory and we’ll be planning more trips before we know it, but for now it’s at the forefront of my brain and therefore, today’s blog post topic.

SLEEP

Is it just a plain old fact that vacations are the absolute worst when it comes to babies and their sleep? Granted, she’s teething and hasn’t been sleeping great regardless, but my 14 month old is really struggling to get back into her sleeping groove. Like, wide-awake from 11:30-2:30 in the middle of the night, struggling.

My three year old quit napping before the New Year but every time we’re on vacation, he still tends to need or want to take a snooze in the middle of the day to make up for the business of activities going on. And because he cannot sleep in on vacation no matter what. So when we come home he’s still on a late night schedule and wanting to crash around 4 pm, which doesn’t help out his attitude much and makes it difficult for me to get anything done in the afternoons besides being on “keep the boy awake” duty.

MOTIVATION

I haven’t worked out since coming home and I have only showered a handful of times. My house is a mess and I’ve yet to finish unpacking or start on the laundry. Maybe it’s because it is cold and rainy back home in northern Utah, or maybe it’s because I’m really very tired, or maybe it’s just because I’ve lost my groove just as much as my little kids have lost theirs.

My laziness is getting the best of me, plain and simple. Everyone I know says they need a vacation from their vacation and that statement was never more true than when kids are thrown in the mix! My husband was unable to join us on this trip so I was required to take on more responsibility and my “supermom cape” grew a tad. And as much as I wanted that to carry over into life back at home, I caved once I was able to. “You do what you have to do”, is something my mom has always said. On vacation, I HAD to be alert and attentive and going at all times. And once I came home and got a taste of the help my husband provides I succumbed to that luxury and lost all of my “supermom” drive.

EXPERIENCE

So here I sit three days later in a messy house with no food or clean clothes because I just need a second to re-gather myself before continuing on. And I think that’s okay.

My boy may need a little extra assistance in the sleep department for the next few days and my girl will probably need some sleep training if she can’t get herself together here soon. And laundry and unpacking get more and more daunting as the days go by.

But I take it back already, I WILL continue vacationing with my kids. The memories and fun are completely worth it. And every time I’m brave enough to mess up our daily routine, it adds to our experience and there are countless lessons learned to implement for the next time.