Being on vacation
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The Frazzled Housewife

Being on vacation

For Mother’s Day 2024, Husband #1 surprised me with a gift. A trip to Cancun, Mexico. Currently, I am sitting in an airplane on our way to said gift. The only time I have ever been in Mexico was the summer of 1985, when my parents took me to Tijuana because my mom heard that they had really good deals on silver jewelry. That was an experience.  I have never been to the “resort side” before. Though, when Husband #1 first told me about it, I wanted to give the gift to one of our kids to enjoy.

What do I need to go away for? Isn’t my life a vacation? Everyone is out of the house; I no longer do five different carpools, No more yeshiva league Jew hockey games; I only have to make sure that Husband #1’s clothes are clean, the house is reasonably in order, and he is fed. I hang out with my surrogate granddaughter four days a week and I count down to when I will see Strudel, her sisters, and her cousins.

Yup. That is pretty much it. Oh, and Netflix. Ok, that is pretty much it. Who needs Cancun, right?

Because I hang out with my surrogate granddaughter, Husband #1 and I planned to go away for Yeshiva break. Nothing says you are old like being the only ones on a plane without a gaggle of kids accompanying you. It is both sweet and sad at the same time. Fortunately, being married to Husband #1 is like always having a kid around. I have to make sure he has his snacks and his beverages. I need to make sure he packs all his reading material so he keeps himself entertained, and I have to hold his hand when there is turbulence during the flight.

Yes, Husband #1 is not a fan of turbulence. Without getting into too much detail, I will say that those special “bags” that are kept in the seat back pockets have been put to good use by the someone I have been writing about. Poor guy. I have also been known to share a dvar Torah or two during some extremely shaky moments because Husband #1 is totally surprised when I remember what parsha it is, that he almost forgets how scared he is. Win-win, folks. That is what is known as a win-win situation.

On this particular flight, I got upgraded and Husband #1 did not, so he had to withstand the turbulence all on his own, and I was very proud of him. And I got to share a seat with a man who, every time he left his seat, giving me a window of opportunity to get up and walk around, left his tray table out with his computer on it, so I was forced to remain seated until our flight arrived in Cancun.

Needless to say, I was extremely happy after we made it through the 45-minute passport line so I could locate a bathroom. You know you are getting old when you can’t hold it in until you get to the hotel.  I used to pride myself on never having to make Husband #1 stop on our baseball trips. Sigh, those days are over. And that is okay.

In any event, every winter vacation makes me think of our more memorable   vacations. Did I ever tell you about our four-day, three-night stay at the Rocking Horse Ranch? It was a kosher program that had amazing kids’ food that my kids would actually eat. It was very expensive. Well, I guess very expensive is relative. It was very expensive for us. But, man, that macaroni and cheese was totally worth it.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was freezing. And though we were supposed to be outside enjoying winter sports (Husband #1 and Son #1 did ski down the bunny slope, once, very slowly…) we stayed inside for the indoor activities; arts and crafts, indoor pool, etc.

We couldn’t find Son #3. He was a tad devilish at that age (well, at every age until 17, but that’s for another day) and he escaped the watchful eye of his father (but it was still my fault, for some reason). Fortunately, he knocked on someone’s door, which was our door, but on the other side of the hotel, and the person who opened the door said, “You must be a Ganchrow! Let’s go find your parents!” And, thank goodness, that story had a happy ending.

So that was a fun winter break. But every vacation, whether you stay home or go away, is for the same purpose — quality family time. You might not realize then, but one day, hopefully, one day, you will.

Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck should have taken Spanish in high school because her French isn’t helping her anywhere.

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