Sunday afternoon

Well, I still miss the kids terribly, but I know they're having a good time and I'm realizing a few other things.

The Hubs and I were married for five years before The Girl came along. Our marriage has changed A LOT since then--all for the better. Looking back now I realize that those were not our five happiest years but we did have a lot of good times. Since The Girl and The Boy have come along we've had a night here or there to ourselves and for the most part they've been good. But one night every once in awhile isn't a week. With one night you feel like you have to make it perfect, you have a limited amount of time, pack as much as you can into it. But with a week...it's like a gift of freedom.

I'd forgotten what it was like to actually sleep until 2pm (yes, a waste but it felt good). I'd forgotten what it was like to eat on OUR schedule--meaning no set time just whenever we're hungry and not worrying if anyone else likes what we're having because we know what we like. I'd forgotten what it was like to just be us, together and be able to do whatever we want whenever we want. This morning we slept in (not until 2 thank you) and just sat and talked and drank coffee on the patio without being interrupted every 15 minutes to be asked a question or told so-and-so did such-and-such. It sounds like I'm down on my kids, but I'm really not.

Obviously we have sex even with kids in the house, but it makes a world of difference when you don't have someone knocking on your bedroom door or waiting for you to make dinner etc. Being able to take your time and slip into a doze afterwards, OMG, what a gift.

I think we should do this every summer. Send them somewhere for a week so we can have us time. And it's not just about the sexual freedom, it's about understanding that we are the foundation of this family and even though we love our kids more than anything else, we're the reason they're here, we picked each other for better or worse and we'll be here long after they've moved on to start their own families. We deserve us time so we don't take the rest of the time for granted.