So DH and I are taking a week in the beginning of August for a 'vacation'. I keep telling him it's not going to be relaxing and calm like I mean when I say 'I need a vacation.' He disagrees. Here is what we are working with.
1 House (very large, my dads house as he will be out of town)
Me, DH, and DD
BIL and SIL and their 2 girls (ages 3.5 and 2.5) and BIL's son (previous marriage) who is 8.
MIL
He keeps saying MIL will watch the kids and DH, me, BIL, and SIL will be able to go out a few times to do dinner or a movie or just hang out. MIL is in her late 60s with a bad hip and BIL and SIL's girls are high energy.
The way I see it, DH and BIL will be sipping beers and hiding out somewhere gaming on their computers while SIL and MIL and I wrangle children, try to make nap times happen amidst chaos for DD, and spend the better part of the day trying to get everyone ready for trips to the beach/pool, then be responsible for bathing the little ones, getting dinner ready, feeding all the tiny ones, and getting them to bed. And I will be SO thankful when it's over.
Re: 'Vacation' Debate
Any place where I have to cook and clean does not equal vacation for me! Sounds like a fun family get together though, but it won't be a vacation!
I don't know his family, so it is hard to say- but my 8 year old (girl) would be a big help with the toddlers. Unfortunately- with MY family- our "vacation" would look a lot like your version. With my husband's family it would work very well...
Every time I tell him he's gonna need to help he says to relax and his mom is going to want to spend all her time with the kids and I won't have to do anything. It's not sinking in.
And everyone bought their flights so I'm stuck.
Did I mention my dads house is not child proofed and has lots of stupidly expensive and antique things in it? Ugh.
They are putting as much of it away as possible and I'm going to try to go do some child proofing as its only 2 hours from us.
Well. I guess since you're stuck going you need to decide if you want to be the one doing everything or demand his help and actually get it.
If this were me I'd tell DH that we are trading off baby duty and when the time came I'd have to follow through as much as him. It's hard for me to relinquish control so I know it would be SO difficult for me to just sit back but I'd have to because then nothing would ever change. DH is great with baby duty once I let go.
It's not fair to assume you'll do all child care on your vacation.
Here's how I see it. Even though its a lot of work. Being at home is a lot of work too. I enjoy just breaking up the monotony of being in the house everyday. So just try to enjoy it the best you can. The change of scenery and new things to do can be a refreshing change of pace.
Vacation with the kids and family is definitely not relaxing, but, I feel you are still creating some pretty special memories. That being said, my DH and family are super involved with the kids on vacations...
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