Making Memories
Husband, Son and I went out to dinner over the weekend and got into a conversation about family vacations. Husband said he used to take his boys camping when they were young and I said we never went camping but we did go to the dude ranch once and had a great time horseback riding with another family from our neighborhood. At which point I found out someone else on that trip had a different recollection.
OSV: Remember that first horse I was given was so mean?
SON: They were all mean. All the horses were mean. And crazy. I would never take anyone I love to a dude ranch. Whose idea was that anyway?
OSV: Come on, you were so adorable sitting on top of that horse and he wouldn't follow the other horses and you yelled out, "Hey, mine's broken!" We laughed so hard. I have the pictures.
SON: Am I in the picture? Am I laughing?
OSV: Well, I'd have to look again but no, I guess you weren't laughing.
SON: There you go. What kind of vacation is that, taking pictures of your kids looking miserable? And the family we went with was nuts. They had that little kid who kept dropping his pucky under the table and started screaming and we all had to go under there and look for it so he'd shut up. I didn't even know what a pucky was.
OSV: That's what they called his pacifier. You were too old for a pucky.
SON: I wasn't old enough to make you get me out of there.
Well, what a lovely sprint down memory lane. When I mentioned this conversation to Daughter and shared with her how surprised I was at Son's recollection of our Hallmark Family Vacation she threw in her handful of bliss.
DTR: What are you talking about? It was horrible. You abandoned me. I didn't think I'd ever find you again. I was in tears and you were all lined up laughing outside the dining room like I didn't even exist.
OSV: All right, I said I was sorry we left the room without you. Nobody saw you go into the bathroom. It was a zoo with all those kids. We just wanted to go to dinner before that pucky got lost again and we were all on our knees banging heads looking for it.
DTR: You shut the lights. I came out and said, "Hello?" and the room was dark and you were all gone. I didn't know where the dining room was. I started running down the halls crying and then I found you all just standing there laughing, like "Hey, where were you?" I was in hell, that's where I was.
It wasn't the moment to ask if she saw her brother there.
Here are some of Daughter's (happy) vacation photos:
montreal
steamboat springs, co
road trip
vienna
OSV: Remember that first horse I was given was so mean?
SON: They were all mean. All the horses were mean. And crazy. I would never take anyone I love to a dude ranch. Whose idea was that anyway?
OSV: Come on, you were so adorable sitting on top of that horse and he wouldn't follow the other horses and you yelled out, "Hey, mine's broken!" We laughed so hard. I have the pictures.
SON: Am I in the picture? Am I laughing?
OSV: Well, I'd have to look again but no, I guess you weren't laughing.
SON: There you go. What kind of vacation is that, taking pictures of your kids looking miserable? And the family we went with was nuts. They had that little kid who kept dropping his pucky under the table and started screaming and we all had to go under there and look for it so he'd shut up. I didn't even know what a pucky was.
OSV: That's what they called his pacifier. You were too old for a pucky.
SON: I wasn't old enough to make you get me out of there.
Well, what a lovely sprint down memory lane. When I mentioned this conversation to Daughter and shared with her how surprised I was at Son's recollection of our Hallmark Family Vacation she threw in her handful of bliss.
DTR: What are you talking about? It was horrible. You abandoned me. I didn't think I'd ever find you again. I was in tears and you were all lined up laughing outside the dining room like I didn't even exist.
OSV: All right, I said I was sorry we left the room without you. Nobody saw you go into the bathroom. It was a zoo with all those kids. We just wanted to go to dinner before that pucky got lost again and we were all on our knees banging heads looking for it.
DTR: You shut the lights. I came out and said, "Hello?" and the room was dark and you were all gone. I didn't know where the dining room was. I started running down the halls crying and then I found you all just standing there laughing, like "Hey, where were you?" I was in hell, that's where I was.
It wasn't the moment to ask if she saw her brother there.
Here are some of Daughter's (happy) vacation photos:
montreal
steamboat springs, co
road trip
vienna
Vacations - when we love them, the kids hate them. When our memories rival a Wes Craven movie, the kids loved them. I can remember Disney World in August. Humidity, rain, heat, more humidity, more rain, more heat. Of course the little angels with their $50 Mickey Mouse ears (that promptly went in the garbage "You can't think I would wear that?!@")in the shade while I stood on line after line after line waiting for some schnook in a fur ball costume to "autograph" their books or take their pictures. Let me tell you, the thoughts I had about Goofy, Donald and Chip & Dale were down-right homicidal. "Hello boys and girls", my ass! It's 98 degrees with 99% humidity. My hair looks and feels like a loofah sponge. I am sweating from places no human should sweat from, and this moron wants cheery??? I'll take 2 of Son's horses and swap for 1 line and Goofy...
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There is a time to speak and a time to listen. The floor is yours.
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It's funny how different members of a family view vacations. I once paid megabucks to take my family to disneyworld, and my oldest son, who smoked and could not access his addiction the whole time, referred to disney as "the crappiest place on earth". I've just returned from the Bahamas with my oldest daughter, who had an allergic reaction on the first night, stopped breathing, and ended up in a third world hospital where the saavy natives brought their own pillows and blankets, because there were none at the hospital. I know our recollections of this vacation will be different from those of the friends we made in the Bahamas. Next time, I'm staying home!
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Wow, is Disney taking a beating in these comments. I wouldn't know, by the way, having never taken my kids to Disneyworld which is just another way we were the Beverly Hillbillies and made me fodder for all their future therapists. Hope dtr is feeling better and welcome home.
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