After a trip away from the family, there’s always a readjustment period. I always am aware of this on the trip back and try to prepare, to think about what will need to be done at home, how to reinsert myself back into the rhythms of the household. I am never resentful of having to come home, but I am more thankful at times than others. After a weekend of fun and relaxation, it’s harder to go back to laundry and dishes. Usually, Mr. Geeky is glad to have me back as a functioning member of the household and kind of drops everything and I have to pick it up. He’s a little on edge. This past weekend was particularly hard because it was pouring down rain and he was trapped inside with kids. To escape, he took our kids and a bunch of neighbor kids to the movies. When I got home, all he wanted to do was to have an adult conversation, or at least watch adult conversations on tv.
The funny thing was, the kids didn’t need too much when I got home. We talked for a while about our weekends, and then we had dinner, but then they escaped to their respective rooms before having to work on homework. Mr. Geeky watched tv on the couch while I did some work in the office (implementing GTD at home! more later). I got Geeky Boy set up at the dining room table to do homework. Meanwhile, Geeky Girl was playing dress up and would make an appearance in the office every once in a while to show off her outfits. All in all, a pretty typical weeknight. Mr. Geeky kept prodding me to get the kids into bed, etc. He was desperate not to be responsible for them. I’ve done the same thing when he’s been gone, so I couldn’t really blame him. He wasn’t doing it in a mean way. Actually, when I think about it, it was kind of like the prodding we do with the kids. “Geeky Boy, it’s about time for bed.” That kind of thing.
By the end of today, we’ll all be back to our normal routines. I will be reassimilated and everything will run like the slightly rusted machine as it usually does. For me, unlike Mark below, getting away reminds me of who I am outside of my family. I have for so long and so often only been identified as a mom that I find it refreshing to not be a mom for a while. When I come back, I can once again reintegrate that identity with the mom one. I feel more whole somehow.
