Seeing as how we have travelled 1500 miles to visit our family over the Christmas holidays (yes, all by truck, and yes, all with a 3 and 5 year old), I thought I'd share my ideas on how to not go crazy when visiting family for this long. (We are the mercy of our families, and have to play nice, otherwise we'd be homeless...oh yeah, and we love them)
How To Not Go Crazy in 21 Days (whilst living with family over the Christmas holidays)
*ahem*
10. Eggnog and rum. Lots of rum.
9. Lots of outings with friends while leaving the kids under the care of any available Grandparent. (Much of the time it's a dump and dash - dump the kids with the Grandparent and dash out the door)
8. Make funny "parental" faces to your siblings when your parent says something that's reminiscent of the Costanza's. Yelling out "GEORGIE!!!!!" helps, too.
7. Allow yourself to roll your eyes as often as you feel will keep you sane, but not so much that they get stuck in the back of your head. (I know that could never happen, but I've come close)
6. Realize that every time you see your parents, they are getting a little older, and will say things that don't make sense. (For example: last night, my Dad says, "you do realize that you are at the age where, when you are trying to figure out who a person is just by their name that they may come from a generation after you, right?" WHAT?!)
5. Retail therapy.
4. Look forward to all of the driving we have to do to get home after this is all said and done. All of that glorious "just my little family - alone time".
3. Bury myself in my computer pretending to be researching gifts or the weather, or how a little dog from New York ended up being found in Arizona 8 years later.
2. Know that my mother in law means well when she keeps asking to give my 5 year old daughter an ipod for Christmas. Leap Pad will do, thankyouverymuch.
1. Be able to very discreetly look over at my husband with an expressionless expression and see that in his eyes, he gets that I'm ready to lose my mind from the chaos that is 21 days with the family over Christmas holidays.
***disclaimer - I love both of our families very much, and acknowledge that although I'm pretty wonderful, they probably also have their own coping mechanisms for having me around for 21 days***
Thoughts From The Wells