Today I got to sit for five hours straight and rest without having to get things for little whiny people. I also got to watch a movie; one that I picked that didn’t involve a character named Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, or any of the Toy Story characters. I won’t have to put anyone in a time out today. I can eat my food slower and actually chew before swallowing. Wait, it gets better…I am writing this blog on an airplane headed to Oahu. I totally get it if you decide to hate me and stop reading now. I’d hate me too.

It pays to have a hard working husband who’s company is sending us on  this trip. It is not like the economy is such that many people, including us, can just pack up and head to a tropical island for five days. I know I am very, very, fortunate, and very grateful. I plan to enjoy every sun-soaking minute of it. Face down in the sand is where you’ll find me for the next few days.

I am so grateful to the people in my life who have stayed behind to help manage our flock. Because watching all three of our kids is a task not for the faint of heart, we devised a schedule of splitting the children up so that no one person has more than two at a time. The first leg of the trip Georgia will be home with my mom while my mother-in-law takes the baby and Olivia. We figured any combination of Georgia plus one is more like watching four kids at once, so that is why Baby and Olivia get to stay together.

Before we left, I mapped out the children’s schedules, feeding suggestions, printed out emergency consent forms, and packed their overnight bags for the trips to Grandma’s. I made sure that things were properly labeled and left my mom with the most important instructions of all: how to operate our television.

I hate leaving my kids behind. I think of them constantly and when I see other people traveling with their kids I feel a twinge of sadness that mine aren’t with me (honestly, it is a small twinge at the moment). However, I’m glad that they weren’t with us this morning though because the lines at SFO were horrendous. Thank you Al Qaeda. I’m sure if our kids were with us there would have been a security breach (I’d put my money on Georgia) or some kind of Blaustein family meltdown (I’d put my money on me).

Ultimately, even as I miss my monkeys, I know that it is so important to get away with my husband. Getting alone time together is something that many couples with children struggle with. Last time we were in Hawaii, we took the baby with us. She was just three months old. Although it was a great time, it just wasn’t the same. We couldn’t go swimming whenever we wanted without worrying about watching Rocky. Plus the few times I went swimming in the ocean by myself, I got paranoid of large marine animals and swam back. And forget about sleeping in, because that just didn’t happen with a nursing three-month-old.

Yes, my calling for the next few days is to not worry about my kids, do nothing for no one, relax, and enjoy. So forgive me if my blogs are shorter this week. I’ll be busy getting my Aloha on. Souvenirs will be forthcoming.