WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY

When the music fades…

And we return from a fun filled week or weekend of late nights, running around all willy-nilly, and I am happy but more exhausted than when we left…

that's when I notice the kiddos haven't had a bath in *ahem* a few days and they haven't eaten yet and it's bedtime and there's school tomorrow.

And I still have to make lunches.  And the kitchen could use some attention.  And the suitcase is full of smelly dirty laundry.

And it always happens that the kids take a few days to transition back into reality.

And it always used to frustrate me.

But having moved into the realm of experienced travelers, I can now say that I'm prepared for transition mania.  I get it now.  I don't try to make everyone hop back onto the normal schedule train when they just got off the fun party train.  Not worth it.

Because they aren't capable of switching that quickly from one mode to the next.

Because it's physically impossible to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of the second I walk in the door.

Because I don't really want to squash the fantastic memories of our fun time underneath the stress of getting everything back to normal right now.

So I work the transition days into the plan.  It's now Wednesday, and I just unpacked our suitcase from Sunday.

We've been slowly moving the kids back into their regular bed times, little by little.

The clothes are being washed as we are able, and the kiddos have been helping with putting away the massive amounts of laundry as they come.

And the kitchen?  Well, it's partly open for business.  No drastic meal planning for this week, just simple meals with fruits, veggies, cheeses, and breads.

And a plan to go nowhere this weekend.