Of course I think it impacted on Wife A a lot more than it did on me, but to say I got through this scot free would not be the truth either.
When we left to go to Phillip Island we were lucky enough to not really have to worry about Kid X being too upset. She was being looked after by her grandma and it was enough of a novelty for this to be a good distraction.
Ernie on the other hand, he had been sleeping so badly leading up to the weekend. He had more teeth coming through than Mr Ed and had screamed for approximately 2/3 of the 2 weeks prior to us leaving.
He also wasn’t drinking from the bottle; he is a boob man no doubt. So to expect him to start this weekend was a long shot. Anyway we left when he was napping. Not the best outcome but they sleep when they want to, not when we want them too.
I could tell as we drove off how hard it was for Wife A, I could tell she wanted to turn around; in fact I reckon if she was on her own she would have. It must have taken both of us about 30 minutes to get used to the idea. From there it was easier for me. Wife A rang home a couple of times and was stressed and thinking about how they were all going throughout the night.
We had a great time even with the anxiety of separation. Most of our conversation was focused on the kids, they are after all a massive part of our lives and this eased our stress a little. Once you are on holiday from the kids you do relax and recharge, it’s a different kind of relaxing from your pre-kids days but it is just as valuable to your well-being. The night went crazy fast and before we knew it we were travelling home again,
I have to add that I woke up 3 times during the night, strangely the times Ernie had been waking up, stupid body clock. Luckily when we arrived home, we heard that they were really no trouble at all and in fact Ernie had a massive sleep in and slept through. Our feelings of separation anxiety were gone and replaced with jealousy, jealousy about how long he slept.
It will now be easier on everyone the next time we go away on our own. Hopefully its sooner rather than later.
