Expiry Dates, My Alter Ego, and Why I Need a Vacation from my Vacation
It’s been a busy last few months filming season two. Completely overhauling and transforming a home is laborious under regular circumstances. Add a tight timeline, a buttload of cameras, a crazy commute, you’ve got yourself a demanding (albeit rewarding) experience! So basically, I’ve been go go go and feel like I haven’t spent quality time with my family since…well since I don’t remember when!
I was thinking we could all use a little serotonin boost, a little vitamin D, and a lot of uninterrupted quality time together. After two and a half years of pandemic pandemonium, we decided it would be fun to take a good, old-fashioned, relaxing family vacation!
Or so I thought.
Any mother will tell you that travelling with kids poses its obstacles. But I was going to be prepared for them. I wasn’t going to let anything shake up my calm, cool, collected alter-ego, ~Vacation Carolyn~ .
The plan? As soon as vacation day was here, I’d unplug and relax, no matter what life threw at me. Stopping for bathroom breaks every 20 minutes? No problem. My growing boys still hungry even though we just finished dinner? To be expected. Plane delayed? It happens. My teenage girl with a suitcase full of clothes and nothing to wear? Here, borrow my dress, sweetie. Husband can’t get work off the brain? Let’s switch our phones off for a bit, dear. Yup, ~Vacation Carolyn~ was ready for it all. She had an answer for everything, and would keep the family fed, watered, and ultimately, relaxed.
T minus 7 days until ~Vacation Carolyn~ made her long awaited return. But vacation day hadn’t arrived yet. We were still living in the real world, and real world Carolyn always has a lot more going on.
I was gathering all of our travel documents, planning ahead, to ensure a smooth airport experience. I finally tracked down all of our passports, and was feeling pretty proud of that. Until I realized two of my kids’ passports were expired. Now, a visit to Service Ontario (the Ontarian DMV for my American friends) is a treat any time you make the trip. Add in an ounce of COVID-related back ups, a dash of it being a Friday, and a sprinkle of desperation to get this done in under a week, and you’ve baked yourself an anxiety cake for the whole family.
Six. FREAKING. Hours.
Six hours in line in that fluorescent lit, grey, monotonous boredom room. Even if you’re not a professional designer, I promise you’ll agree that any Service Ontario location could use a facelift. After SIX HOURS in line, things were looking up. Until I was informed that I hadn’t signed the back of the pictures so I’d need to spend the weekend not only having my anxiety cake, but eating it too, while I waited to return on Monday to do this all over again. Oh, and pay the expedited price.
But hey, that was it. That was the big annoying thing that would happen on the vacation, and we had already gotten it over with. All that was left to do was pack, and then away we’d go!
Now, I really should have seen this one coming…
Kids grow. Especially at my kids’ ages. And when it’s been 8 months since their summer clothes have been worn, they’ve grown…8 months amount, which is approximately…time to buy an entirely new summer wardrobe amount. After a brief shopping spree, some deep breaths, and inevitably a little more creative problem solving, we’re finally in Mexico, and ~Vacation Carolyn~ has come to fruition.
Over the last week I’ve been reminded that it’s unreasonable to try to stay calm, cool, and collected all the time. Passports are going expire, kids will outgrow their clothes, and planes will be delayed. I always try to embrace my life’s perfect imperfections, and approach challenges with a positive spirit. I want my kids to see me as a role model, someone they want to emulate, and to tackle the tricky times with kindness. I also want them to keep track of their passport, license, and health-card expiry dates so I never have to wait in line for six hours at Service Ontario again.
Okay, time to close the laptop and go for a swim. With gratitude, love, and well wishes, adios!
Yours truly,
