Trip Envy

Recently, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and as we do every other year, we decided to take a small getaway trip. This year, we chose to visit New Orleans, a city that is near and dear to my heart from growing up in Louisiana.

Once we’d decided, we began mapping out our visit. One night as we’re double checking our itinerary, our daughter, who’d been put to bed over an hour before, yells from her bed that we’d forgotten one thing: her. Nowhere in our conversation had she heard her name mentioned or any activities that she might like for that matter.

I took this as yet another opportunity to explain that this was a trip for mommy and daddy (for the third time). She listened, as she typically does, and then responded with, “Oh, I thought you guys were only kidding about not bringing me along.” At this moment, my heart was feeling guilty, but my head was telling me that this was a much needed getaway and we HAD to go.

So, without elaborating too much, I explained to her that it was: 1. past her bedtime and 2. because it was past her bedtime, it not something that was up for discussion. At a more decent hour, we once again told her why she would not be going and also, that she’d be spending the weekend with her Nana and Papa, two of her most favorite people. Everything seemed to be okay with the arrangement.

The day of departure arrived and we reminded her that she’d be picked up from school by her Papa and would have a fun-filled weekend with them. Once she’d been picked up, the phone calls began. During what was supposed to be a peaceful drive to the great city of New Orleans, we received about a dozen phone calls and requests to face chat via our electronic devices.

Because my daughter is at the tender age of nine, we responded to the initial requests, but ended up declining many thereafter. We felt it was the best idea to help her understand that this was indeed going to be a getaway for mom and dad.

Somewhere along the trip, I think she took the hint (or Nana and Papa removed her electronic device from her reach). However, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about our decision. I began to convince myself that perhaps she wasn’t feeling well or that she had an emergency that she only wanted to her mom to help her with. But then, I was reminded that she was with the two people I trust the most and if there were a real issue, the calls would be coming from them. With this in mind, I eventually began to relax and ultimately, we had a great time.

But, I would like to ask all you moms out there, has this ever happened to you? How do you handle the situation? Is this something that gets better with age?