When You Can't Fly Away to Maui

“Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind,” (Ecclesiastes 6:9).

  

Motherhood is the best job I’ve ever had. But sometimes I wish the benefits package included vacation time.

When my kids spend twelve consecutive hours bickering over toys and begging for cookies—I could use a day alone at the lake.

When I’ve played six games of UNO Moo, styled an American Girl doll’s hair eight different ways, and assembled 324 puzzle pieces before lunch—I get restless for a weekend with the girls. Grown-up girls, I mean.

And when my husband and I can’t finish a meal, or a sentence, or a singular thought without someone interjecting to ask for milk or help or every ounce of our attention—I dream of a week in Maui sipping tall beverages spiked with pineapple juice. And cherries, too. Let’s go crazy.

So what do I do when I want to get away, but can’t?

I count my blessings.

• The freckles on my daughter’s nose and the lilt in her laugh.
• Crayons on the carpet and healthy kids who scatter them there.
• A good job that keeps my husband at the office past dinner time.
• Four walls to protect us, even as I scratch and climb them.

I can’t change my circumstances. But I can change the way I look at them. Can you?

So that plane to Maui, it has to fly without me. But tonight I just might pour myself a tall glass of something fruity anyhow. Want to come over? You bring the paper umbrellas; I’ll spring for the cherries.

 

If this post encouraged you, please pass it on. You might also like When Hubby Leaves His Socks on the Floor, Why Some Shoulds Are Good for Us, and What That Mess Really Means.

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Linking up with: The Better Mom, Playdates With God, Momma Notes, Titus 2sdays, Grace at Home, Wedded Wednesday, Thriving Thursdays and Things I Can't Say.