Allison

Sending lots of love your way. My only advice is to try to reframe. I understand that it can be a bummer to picture a kid-free honeymoon type situation only to find out that you are missing your kids instead of being kid-free. To me it sounds like you had unrealistic expectations. The bad news, and the good news, is that you will never be kid-free again. So then let’s reframe: what benefit can a trip like this have, if you’re never really kid-free? The benefit is that it causes you to miss your kids! Missing your kids is a great benefit!! Getting to miss them and long to have them back, getting to feel overjoyed for when you will get to reunite with them, is a huge perk of the trip! Of course you’re not back to your pre-children self, that would be impossible. You won’t just stop remembering them or loving them when they’re far away. But being far away and getting to miss them will help you remember how much you enjoy them and how it can be delightful to be around them. It’s hard and I’m sending you love!

I recently read Demon Copperhead and really enjoyed it. It reminded me that I’d loved The Bean Trees (also by Barbara Kingsolver) when I read it 15 years ago or so. It prompted me to look up all her other books and I’m currently loving Prodigal Summer.