I’m so sorry to have been delinquent with you. It’s one of the busiest times of year for me at work and to be honest, I’m just trying to keep my apple cart from spilling over. I’m about to head out of town for what will be six days of work travel (probably the longest amount of consecutive days for me). Additionally, while several of my co-workers are making the leap to take their broods, I, on the other hand, am traveling sans kids (*wipes a tear*). Why, you ask? Aside from never seeing them while they are there more importantly it’s just too expensive to travel with my family of five for all those days over a holiday break.
Nevertheless, over the last two plus weeks the kids have been acting kind of strange. When I say strange I mean whiny (more than usual), wanting to sleep in my bed and practically on top of ME while doing so, wanting to know what time I’m coming home, calling ‘Mommy’ out 10 times at a pop purely for the Sound of Music benefit. You get the point.
This morning my 2-year-old cried when I told him I had to go to work, and between heartfelt sobs begged me not to go ‘bye-bye.’ After I pried his vice grip from my legs and closed the door, I turned around to say ‘I love you’ and officially felt like crap! What did me in is that out of all of my kids, the baby, strangely enough, practically deuces me up every morning without any problems. What is really going on?
Do they somehow feel that I’m leaving before I actually tell them? I think the answer is yes. It’s one of the reasons I don’t tell them too far in advance. Without question, there is no connection like a loving mother-child relationship. Carrying a child for nine months is an experience like no other and as we continue to nurture them a very clear unbreakable bond forms. It is that bond that makes you into a homing device or a Mommy Lo-Jack if you will. They know our smells, our footsteps, even our heartbeats. They are my alarm and I am the car.
So aside from the stress of what is going on at work I have tried to be more accommodating with the whining; I’ve allowed a few co-sleeps (which I normally would not do), and I overcompensated this weekend when I went to the grocery store with all their favorite snacks (yes, I know, I’m spoiling them). What can I say? I feel guilty. I’m not going to lie. All the neediness as of late makes me feel like there isn’t enough of me to go around. They don’t really understand and it’s not their job to. It’s mine to work out and make them feel comfortable.
I have since told them I’m going away, my outfits are laid out for packing and the questions are rolling in about when I’m coming back and how long I’m going to be gone. I will try to call them every day to say hi and check in. I’m finally going to use Skype.
We’ll see how it goes and I’m crossing my fingers that I’ve gotten the brunt of it already.
What do you guys do when you travel for work? Do your kids act weird too?
-Chic Busy Mom
