Time Away

As I mentioned, I went down to the WordCamp conference in Orange County last week, which meant leaving the kids and hubby for two nights.

Aside from the fact that time away from the baby is kind of tough while nursing (for the uninitiated I won’t go into the details of breast pumping, but the moms out there who’ve used one know what I’m talking about when I say UHG), I was really looking forward to a little time away.

Grown up time. Nobody crying, needing my attention, or spilling anything. Every mom should get the occasional day or two off, and I was really enjoying it, but it’s so bitter sweet these days.

I sped through security with my roll-aboard, took my time in the little stall of the bathroom without worrying my daughter was making a break for it, and even had a beer with my refrigerator sushi, because, hey, I wasn’t nursing any time soon. But within the hour I actually began missing my little Cling-ons.

It was a strange, visceral longing. I didn’t actually miss parenting, per se. Parenting is ridiculously hard most of the time. What I missed was the feeling of my family. My daughter’s blond fro tickling my face, curling up next to my guy at night, the way my baby nuzzles his nose into the crook of my neck right after he spits up all down the back of my shirt. These were the things I missed. The physical sensations of being close to the people I love. The longing just kind of hovered in my mind. Not overwhelming, just kind of always there.

Well, for better or worse, it was only a two day trip. I kept thoughts of those three precious souls in my heart, and let the rest of my body just relax for about 30 hours. It’s true what they say – absence does make the heart grow fonder.