The Kidless Vacation

What can be said about the kidless vacation?  Plenty! This is my husband and I's first true vacation without our kid.  We had a little overnight trip to San Francisco four months ago but I don't count that.  This is a five days, four nights an ocean away from our child trip.  Being the loving mother that I am, I had mixed feelings about this whole expedition. I have seen my child at least once a day since the day he was born, that was twenty two months ago. We left him with both of our parents, so I know he is in good hands. My main concern was that he would ask for Mommy and Mommy wouldn't be there. Despite my apprehensions, I knew I would have to be a big girl and just go. Jim and I needed a little time away and frankly I did not feel like toting a toddler around Maui. So we packed up and left. 

Let me tell you something, you want to feel like the world's WORST mother on the planet, look at your child's tiny quivering lip as slow tears slide down his cheeks, and he reaches out for you but can't really reach you because he is strapped into his car seat and he says "No Mama, No" in a panicked tone you've never heard before while you say goodbye and shut the car door.  Yeah, that was horrific! So horrific that for one split second I almost told Jim he could go without me. I came to my senses quick enough though.  I sobbed uncontrollably on my way to the ticket counter and I'm sure people thought I was crazy, but what can I say.

Fast forward six hours and I'm finally relaxing in the sun, snorkeling, and quite frankly a little tipsy from the complimentary Mai Tais on the plane.  Oh and it's only noon, Maui time.  All amazing aspects of the kidless vacation.  Experts say it's healthy for couples to get away from their child so they can reconnect as a couple.  I'm sure that's true but it's about so much more than that.  It's about sleeping in past 6 AM and not waking up to someone screaming, "MAMA, MAMA, POTTY!" It's about going to the bathroom without an audience and someone asking, "MAMA, POO POO?" It's about flushing the toilet without hearing "BYE BYE POO POO."  It's about being an adult again, if only for a few days, and being surrounded by anything but Bubble Guppies or Good Night Moon.  It's about having to only worry about yourself and no one else. You don't realize the fact you are on constant high alert every second of the day until your kid is not around.

So all in all I am glad we chose to come to Maui alone. But with all that said I cannot wait until Thursday so I can see my little monkey butt again.  I miss him like crazy!