I love hotels. The luxury and ironic simplicity of a suite allows one to really sit back, relax, and reflect. I had this wonderful opportunity over the weekend. My daughter had a high school event planned in the Boston area and I jumped at the idea to stay with her there in the evening as a quasi-chaperone for her and the other girls in the group. After the logistics of seat placement, luggage and equipment fitting, and caravaning through Mass Pike, I suddenly found myself and my two younger ones in complete quietude and freedom.
We could go anywhere and we did -- Fanueil Hall, Quincy Market, USS Constitution, Children's Museum. I had no worries about opening doors, climbing stairs, locating handicap accessible ramps, estimating the feasible distance of a walk from the vehicle to the destination. I found myself twirling around and singing songs like Maria in the Sound of Music, as I am normally more reserved around my mother-in-law. I found myself racing with my son along the cobblestone streets of Boston, zooming along with the baby stroller, hearing and loving what each of my sons had to say. I did not have to listen to the daily update of a nagging headache, leg pain, tooth pain, back pain, urine pass, or constipation. I did not have to hear complaints, regrets, wishes, or nostalgia for what is gone. And I did not have to worry about what my mother-in-law would have for the upcoming meal.
This complete immersion with my two younger children conjured up uneasy feelings of what I might be missing each day. Afterall, if I was spending so much time worrying about my mother-in-law's needs, wasn't that compromising my children's?
Perhaps. But someone has to care for her. And I know it is the best way for my family to live -- together in a multi-generational home.
Coming back from two days and one night of "mother-in-lawlessness" I found our conversations rejuvenated, our company invigorated. Weekend getaways certainly can bring forth wonderful feelings of joy!
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