Vacation, all I ever wanted
I haven’t had time to blog the past week because I was on vacation. To some people that would seem like a ridiculous excuse. Vacations are supposed to be relaxing. You go away to lounge by the pool or on the beach. The most difficult thing you should have to do on vacation is lift a fork, drink a frosty beverage or read a book, right? Well, that’s if you vacation without children.
I convince myself every year that this year will be different. My children won’t fight at the happiest place on earth. They will thank me daily for bringing them to a state without snow. We will laugh in the pool and bond over dinner. The meals will be delicious, hot and cooked by someone other than me.
Wrong.
We were less than 24 hours into this year’s vacation when things went horribly wrong. I was sitting in a lounge chair watching my children swim in the pool. My kids have reached the ages where I don’t have to hold them in the water. I can and did swim with them, but I can also enjoy watching while relaxing in a lounge chair.
Well, that’s what I thought.
There was a winding water slide at the pool. It wasn’t a tall slide. My daughter went down six times, squealing with excitement. Well, number seven proved to be unlucky. The water was moving faster and she panicked. Halfway down the slide she attempted to turn her body and flip over, but her leg got stuck. I jumped in the water to grab her. She was crying. Initially I figured the tears were brought on by fear. Children will cry after a fall because they were scared regardless of whether it hurt or not. It only took a few minutes to realize she wasn’t being dramatic. I took her back to our condo to apply ice on her ankle. I felt sorry for my daughter, but was also sad for me. I spent money on a trip that should have been used to replace the circa 1985 countertop in my kitchen. I was buying memories damn it, not a trip to Urgent Care. It turns out the whole ‘when you wish upon a star…’ thing only works in the commercials. After an X-ray we were told she sprained her ankle.
We later learned, during a follow up visit with our doctor, that the diagnosis was wrong. She actually fractured her growth plate. What are the odds I can get the $35 co-pay refunded?
I felt sorry for myself for a minute. We were traveling with my friend and her three children. We rented a wheel chair and still had an amazing time at Walt Disney World in between the whining and fighting. The staff was extremely accomadating. We had an incredible view of the parade at Magic Kingdom.
I bought a $12 balloon and spent their college tuition on lunch. The look on my daughter’s face when she saw Princess Elsa made it all worth it. I will show her the picture when she is working a minimum wage job out of high school. Overall, it was a valuable learning experience.
I came away from this trip with this knowledge:
1.) never trust a doctor you just met.
2.) never order chicken wings in Florida if you’re from Buffalo.
3.) I am stronger than I thought.
4.) I need a vacation from my vacation