Adults Only

My brother recently moved to Miami and extended an open invitation to me, Alec and Lili. We decided to drive down in the car he purchased prior to leaving for his sunny new domicile. We were all packed up, car seat; diapers; adorable warm weather baby clothes; items my brother left behind; etc. About 10 minutes prior to departure, my parents came by to pick up our dogs for the week. My father casually mentioned how we were welcome to leave Lili with them, if we could handle being away from her for so long. After a short pause and a quick chat, Alec and I started to remove the car seat and half the contents of my checked bag! I gave a quick briefing to my parents then we gave many hugs and kisses and bid them adieu!

“Wow” we thought “what freedom!” I hadn’t gone more than one overnight without seeing her sweet face or hearing her happy giggles, but I thought it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship. Alec and I needed a true getaway…from work, stress, the clouds, and cold weather. And having the ability to do anything we wanted without a little one in tow was rather appealing.

Our drive down was seamless (15 hours) with far fewer stops than a little one would demand. I pumped in the car several times, and by the time we made it to my brother’s place, we were ready for bed.

The next morning it hit me…now, I always wake up at 6:40 on the nose, without an alarm, and usually go to Lili’s room shortly thereafter to see her giggly precious face and messy hair, the best possible start to my day. Well, the first morning without her was so anticlimactic, and kind of sad. Sure, I had a picturesque 48^th story balcony view of Miami and the Bay while I pumped, but all I could think about was Lili and how much she would love looking out on the water and feeling the breeze in her pretty dark hair.

It didn’t stop there either…I asked my mother to send me pictures and videos of Lili periodically so I would miss her less, but it just made me miss her more!

Sure it was fun going out to bars, having late dinners, etc. but it was clouded with images of Lili. Even sitting by the pool, I was flooded with phantasmagorias of Lili in her floppy white hat splashing about in the water.

I think this “adults only getaway” opened my eyes to the true joys of parenting. I want her to experience everything this world has to offer and having her by my side just makes everything more exciting.

We are going to go back very soon, and you can bet Lili will be with us. Yes, I hate the experience of flying with her, but it is so worth it. I can’t let the tasking nature of getting to a destination deter me from going to said destination. I can’t wait for our next adventure, with my precious chubby cheeked bundle of happiness!

Next stop…NYC!