Hello readers! Welcome to Menage a Monday…brought to you by One Nerve Left, Rock and Drool, Spawnocalypse, BORED Mommy, and me! Today, I am honored to present Maria, from BORED Mommy. Yay!
Maria is great! I’ve been a big fan of hers from the beginning and find myself constantly laughing with her – from her awesome blog to her hilarious tweets. You need to get know her if you don’t already!
Travelin’ Man
My husband is a bit of a travellin’ man. He actually travels quite often for business, and I’m somewhat used to it. Somewhat. I will admit that I don’t really enjoy those trips that last longer than a week, but work is work, so I deal with it. Of course, it is harder now with the children, because they get upset and miss him when he’s gone. They don’t understand – they just want their Daddy around.
Years before my husband and I met, he was a traveler of a different kind; without schedule or specifics. His travels were guided by his soul and a desire for enlightenment. Through that journey, he visited so many beautiful places and had so many life-changing experiences, it really amazes me even now. Although he’s all business these days, back in his 20s he was a writer, a poet and a sculptor. He began his travels at the age of 21 and saw many countries, including:
Yugoslavia
Hungary
Egypt
Jordan
Syria
Turkey
Iraq
Greece
Cyprus
Israel
He returned to Canada after his extensive travels, but when he was 26, he traveled to Italy, where he lived for over a year, working on his novel and poetry, drinking copious amounts of vino and sculpting some marble pieces that now sit proudly in our living room.
These days he travels more for work, and for longer periods of time. In the last year alone, he’s been to Germany, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Australia, not to mention all over the U.S. This latest business trip will be taking him to England and Amsterdam.
I’m not bitter – I swear. I only get bitter when the kids coincidentally come down with something, the minute he gets in the car and drives away. I’ve done the stats, it happens about 90% of the time. That part is not fun.
And those times when he calls me from these beautiful locales like Hawaii during dinner time, I try not to choke on my KD, while he describes his amazing meal with exact detail.
But I swear I’m not bitter.
Listening to the husband talk about how difficult, eight days of business in a foreign land is, does not really compare to how difficult eight days of 24/7 mommy business is, does it?
But who is really missing out?
I know that I won’t get the chance to see Big Ben or Buckingham Palace or the London Eye this week, and that’s okay, because I will be taking care of business on this side of the pond, with my two little people in tow. As a mom, I know and appreciate that every little moment with them is an absolute privilege. They are my London, my Amsterdam, my Hawaii. In reality, I won’t actually be missing out on anything. I won’t miss a moment.
But my husband will miss eight days worth.
Poor guy.
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My husband travels a few times a year on business and I even posted about how he gets to call all the fancy dinners “work” while I was home dodging projectile vomit. After that he really enlightened me on how hard it is to be away and to be powerless to help when things are going on at home. A couple trips ago, we had a break-in while we were all in bed. He wasn’t due back until the end of the week, but called our local police dept from across the country every night and asked them to make sure they drove around our neighborhood a little extra. I still dread the trips, but have tried to be a little more sensitive about acting like he’s on a vacation while I’m trapped in a coal mine. The alone time with the kids is actually kinda nice (for the first day at least). Great post!
Thanks so much for the feature Lynette!!! Honoured to be on your blog!
Maria @BOREDmommy´s last blog ..Yinking
The pleasure is all mine! I love this post!
I’m so glad my husband doesn’t travel. I have a hard enough time with the blissful alone time he gets while he drives from office to office. He can listen to talk radio without the preteen screeching that this sucks! He can listen to music with bad words. OR he can listen to nothing and just be alone with his brain in silence. I forget what that’s like.
My dad traveled a lot for work when I was younger. I can say from experience that it was really hard on our family. All 3 of us kids have a strained relationship with him – there are no specific issues, it’s just that none of us are all that comfortable with him. On the other hand, we are very close with our mom. My dad apparently asked my mom about this recently and she also thought it was because of all the time he spent away when we were younger.
in my line of work, we travel a lot to present research and collaborate on projects. I have to say that my experience growing up will make me seriously look at the benefits of every business trip now that we have a child of our own. As your husbands point out, business travel is not fun, even if you’re in Hawaii. Sure, it has it’s fun moments, but it’s exhausting and boring for the most part. And when it takes you away from the kids, it may not even be worth it.
I love your blog and I love Maria’s blog, and I loved that post, too!
Loukia´s last blog ..Interview with a fashionista!
i love that post! i love that line “hey are my London, my Amsterdam, my Hawaii. In reality, I won’t actually be missing out on anything. I won’t miss a moment.” awesome!!
melissa´s last blog ..Sometimes I Just Have To Brag
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