Comments on: Long weekends with small children are not relaxing, and other truths about parenting

By: Louise van Loosen

Louise van Loosen — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 13:13:55 +0000

“Maybe in his mind he’s an only child”- whahaha!! Just randomly happened on this post (or may there is no such thing as random in the algorithms that be and serve up certain blog posts, but anyway…) – suffice to say it made my day! Your little boy and his antics just reminds me so much of what my little one used to get up to (and sometimes still does, alas). I just wish I had found these posts earlier as they do make me feel less alone in dealing with some of the, let’s say, truly unique expressions of his individuality. And maybe you cracked it; in my youngest’s mind he probably is King of the World and the rest of us just his faithful servants 😉

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 03:52:36 +0000

{chortle!!} Almost fell off my rockin’ chair at the dog poop episode. 😀

You know what the best thing about getting old is? You gaze fondly at other people’s cute little kids and say to yourself (silently, of course…), “Oohhh, how sweet. I’ll NEVER HAVE TO DO THAT AGAIN!).

Back in the Day when our kiddies were little, it was still acceptable for a married woman to stay home and take care of the house, the man, and the child(ren). I did…for as long as I could stand it. One striking thing I remember about it — and remember other women remarking, too — was the dreadful sense of loneliness. No matter how many kids you have and friends who have kids, when it’s you against them child care is a LONELY affair. Doesn’t take long to start craving grown-up conversation and company.

Enjoy it while it lasts. 😉

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 15:22:09 +0000

this post made me choke on my cup of tea laughing! Parenting small humans is far from idyllic, most of the time, and you write with good humour, patience, but most of all so much appreciated honesty about your experiences! Makes me feel I’m doing an ok job in an internet full of rosy pictures and amazing earth mothers!!

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 15:25:06 +0000

In reply to Tom. @Tom- it is the reality of parenting that a work trip can feel like a vacation, whereas a "vacation" with 5 small children (in your case!) can feel quite like work!

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 14:12:07 +0000

Laura, I had those exact same thoughts. We took our kids to a large lodge with my folks, my four siblings, and their children. My kids are 10, 8, almost 7, 5, and 3. We took 3 “trips” this year with our kids. I can’t say “vacation”, because that implies rest and relaxation. I’ve come up with definitions for traveling:
If you’re taking dependent children or going to see family, it’s a trip. If both apply, it’s work. And if neither apply, it’s vacation. My vacations are mostly conferences for my job, but I don’t consider them “work” or “work trips” because I get some down time (i.e. vacation).

By: Jennie

Jennie — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 12:50:25 +0000

What is it with the youngest child being a heathen? My youngest, now 9, still is more of a pain than his brother and sister were at that age. Long weekends will get better, but also a little sadder. The older children will make plans with friends and a day with all your kids will be harder to come by. We took a week long trip to DC this summer–just family, no tag a longs–and it was bittersweet. The ease of getting around with older children is amazing. It is so much easier navigating mass transportation and using Lyft when everyone can sit in a regular seat! But knowing that these trips will be fewer as they get older is a bit sad. The oldest spent a great deal of time immersed in conversations on his phone to the girlfriend. (Cue massive eye roll.) Sleep gets better, although, now I have one who comes in late and I’m up waiting or having to go pick up. Maybe with a little time, the dog poop story will be a funny story you retell. Like when he has his first girlfriend. 🙂

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 22:48:40 +0000

In reply to Calee.

@Calee – I look forward to this sort of thing with older kids. Honestly, without the 2-year-old, much of this weekend would have been far more chill. But anyway, the Sept start — we are in school until mid/late June. But we start after Labor Day. I prefer it, really.

By: Calee

Calee — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 20:32:13 +0000

I want to know how your kids are just now going back to school. California schools have been pushing us earlier and earlier into August saying “we need to line up with the East Coast” and I say hmmm….

We had planned to head up to the mountains for the weekend but the heatwave here left everyone just wanting to go to the pool. Which is what we did–every day! Monday we hosted an Irish whiskey tasting featuring our loot brought back from a summer in Ireland. It was fantastic to see our 10-year-old corralling our friends’ toddlers and to catch up with good friends.

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 19:32:09 +0000

In reply to Marjorie.

@Marjorie – I will admit that the dog poop incident could have been an element in a slapstick movie scene.

I’ll write about the book when I do my “Books read in…” post later this month, but I loved parts, especially the description of the African scenery. I got bogged down in the long “oh those crazy natives” type narratives, though.

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 19:29:24 +0000

In reply to Marie.

@Marie – oh yes, the “all the things I could be doing” quandary with limited free time. My Sunday trio of the nap, reading on the porch, and swimming was pretty good on that front. It meant I spent another hour doing email at night though, thus pushing the calendar meeting to late… Trade offs.