Some complain that summer vacation is too short.  The kids feel there’s not enough time to see friends and do what they want.  Many working parents justifiably feel that the Family Vacation, which they’ve waited all year for, is over in the blink of an eye.  But for those of us who don’t get any vacation, aka stay-at-home moms, summer vacation is just too long.

Now, I love my kids.  I cherish them and love spending time with them.  But this week has been really rough.  Many of my kids’ friends are on vacation, leaving my two pokey youngsters without playdates.   Add to that the rainy weather we had earlier in the week, plus a lack of the unlimited funds I’d need to take them all the expensive places they want to go, and you have one unhappy trio (mom + two wee folk).

We were fortunate to have our family vacation early in the season.  Jamaica!  Not Newark.  Jamaica!  My children seem to have forgotten about that.  We’ve also been away twice more this season, visiting friends and making our way to Hersheypark.  The kids remotely remember that.  They live in the here and now with the questions being, “What have you done for me lately?  What will you be doing for me in the next five minutes?”  My husband says they’re ungrateful.  I say they’re kids. [Read more...]