When the Cat's Away...

This week, MacGyver is out of town for his job.  He left us, feeling a bit guilty, and set off with his co-worker/best friend/kiddos' godfather (also known as "the Don") for a few exciting days in Mobile, Alabama.

The moment the door shut, I thought "the cat's away, so the mice shall play!"

Now, don't get me wrong--I love my husband.  Adore my sweetie.  I swear he's the one that wakes up early and puts the sun up in the sky for us.  But, here and there, it's really awesome to have him go away for a few days...

I don't think I'm alone, either, in believing this.  A totally non-random poll of friends and acquaintances has shown that the moms (not the dads!) believe that a few non-hubby days with the kids is simply fabu.  We stay up later.  Eat enormous amounts of crap and fast food (yeah!! no cooking!!!!).  We refuse to clean or vacuum.  The laundry fairy only visits when we're down to our last pairs of undies.  Dishes in the sink?  Yep.  Why?  Because. We. Don't. Care.

Now, this does not include those of us with hubbies (wives, or co-parents, or significant others, etc.) who are in the military and are gone for long lengths of time.  Nor, does it include those whose better halves travel all the time.  That's no fun, and frankly, sucks.

But, for those of us who get to see all our sweetie darlings every. stinkin'. day. It's nice for a break.  It really does make the heart grow fonder.  And, it relieves the craving for Squisito's pizza (since we basically live on that and Lucky Charms for days at a time).  By the time MacGyver's back home, I'm itching to make something homemade for dinner, and living in sloth and gluttony isn't as exciting as it was a few days before.

And, you know what?  I think that, deep down, the husbands like getting away too.  Yes, my sweetums complains that the hotel rooms aren't homey, he doesn't like eating out every meal of the day, and it's really boring to watch TV by yourself at night.  But, then, he doesn't have someone complaining about his choice of TV show (really?  another conspiracy theory/aliens/UFO show?) and wanting to watch the Real Housewives marathon instead.  And, theoretically, no one is asking for a refill on their juice or if they can eat the rest of his meat, and can you please cut it up for me, no, not that way, like little triangles, and can I have the rest of your potatoes too, and can you take us out for ice cream, why not?, that's not fair, he hit me, she looked at me, etc. etc. ad nauseum....

He makes it sound like travel is horrible. All the lines.  All the airports.  All the questionable food.

And, yet, inevitably, he calls to tell me goodnight and I hear laughter and music in the background.  Sometimes he and the Don are at a nightclub/restaurant drinking bottles of wine with a bunch of co-workers in South Beach.  Or, I hear the surf and seagulls from Hernando Beach where they're talking to surfers and guys fishing on the pier while their table is called at that restaurant that looks out over the ocean.  Once, they were getting dinner in Little Havana and I got to hear the descriptions of all the street vendors and their meals. It sounded awesome!  I could almost taste the pulled pork and fried plantains...

So, my point is, I think some travel and time apart is really good when you've been together as long as MacGyver and I have been.  The kids are excited that daddy's gone so they can pile into bed with me and snuggle all night.  And, they get to be excited when he comes home, usually with trinkets and souvenirs for them.  And we both get the excitement of a little change in scenery and routine, and that can make everyone feel a whole lot better.

I hope he remembers this when I try to get away next month for a "girls' weekend"...

Wardrobe Malfunctions

Okay, I know a lot of y'all out there have this same problem.  But, for some reason, this year it's really getting to me.  What is it?

new season + major growth spurts + one mom "slightly" behind in her back to school shopping = CHAOS

This weekend, fall came.  Like, overnight.  It was a sweaty, humid 78 degrees on Friday, and then on Saturday we woke up to 40 degree temperatures.  And no sweaters, sweatshirts, or jackets that fit.  And I can't find their hats.  Forget the mittens and gloves--there's only unmatching ones of each floating around in oblivion...

Oh, and the kiddos feet grew.  Again.

I swear, this is a never ending problem around here and in almost every other household in the world.  I'm sure somewhere there is a mother who lovingly collects larger sizes of every piece of clothing, underwear, outerwear, and shoes for her sweetie darlings.  I'm sure she has these bits and bobs organized by size and season for each gender child.  No doubt she has her munchkins' holiday clothes all washed and ironed, and has well fitting snow boots and snow pants lined up for the first snow.

Me?  I found out the kids' rain boots didn't fit two weeks ago when the biblical rains around here started.  Poor WMB hobbled around in 2-sizes-too-small "fireman" boots for almost a week before I found replacements (and not even on sale, dammit.  Or, with a coupon.) Forget DQ's boots, since they were a size 2 and she wears a 5.  Plus, DQ sniffed at the idea of rain boots and just wore her already-too-small sparkly silver ballet flats (how can an 8 year old have size 6-7 women's feet?  She is already pirating my heels!) every single day to jump in puddles.

Now, back when they were babies and toddlers, this was never a problem.  We had tons of hand-me-downs from every Lucy and Ethel in my life.  Any holes in the wardrobe were easily filled at the local consignment shop, and those clothes were adorable and hardly worn since kids only wore an outfit or shoes a few times before outgrowing them.  Now, the growth spurts are less predictable and the kids' wear their clothes and shoes out before outgrowing them.  Plus, anyone who has shopped at consignment shops lately knows that they have tons of little kids clothes, but after size 8 or so, there's almost nothing. 

Also, in the past, I bought tons of clothes at the end of the season clearance sales that were the size I guessed my munchkins would be the following year.  Yep, can't do that anymore either.  I wasted a small fortune buying "50% off the lowest marked price--up to 70% off!" clothes to find out my kids outgrew them before they were ever worn.  After taking one too many bags of brand new, with the tags still on, clothes to the consignment shop, I gave up on that practice.

So now, I wait til they grow and go shopping.  Which puts me in a bad situation.  Like this weekend.  I needed sweatshirts, sweatpants, and sweaters (non "hoochie mamma" or "bad a$$ graffiti artist" please) for DQ and WMB.  Couldn't. Find. Them. Anywhere.

Apparently, all the far more organized moms got to the stores before me.  There were empty racks where tunic sweaters used to be.  The only long-sleeved t-shirts for boys DQ's age were not the sweet ones with firetrucks and bulldozers, but had questionable spray-painted slogans on them.  And no--I will not buy any sweatpants or yoga pants for an 8 year old girl that has any kind of writing, sparkly or not, on the bum bum.  Not. Gonna. Happen.

After a long afternoon of combing the mall and surrounding area for fall and winter clothes, my kids now have enough to put off doing laundry every day.  Not that I don't do that anyway, but at least they have 3 or 4 long sleeve shirts and pants to last them a few days.  And school boots that fit (thank you Stride Rite for having a clearance sale that actually had my kids' sizes in stock!!!).  I still haven't gotten around to the winter stuff yet--and, no doubt, I'll only get around to it when it snows and I'm digging around under the basement stairs for the box of snow pants that are three sizes too small and the boots that would be small on a toddler.  My munchkins will be the ones out on the neighborhood hill, sledding in three pairs of sweatpants and mismatched mittens because mommy couldn't get her act together enough to find snow pants and boots at Target before they were all sold out.  But, at least they'll be having fun--and I know that they are totally unprepared for the weather because we were all too busy playing at the park and going fishing at the dock and investigating all the different types and colors of mushrooms that have sprouted up in the woods during these torrential rains.

And, that has to account for something.  Doesn't it?