Triumphs and Failures Tuesday - Trippin' for All

It's that time again: Triumphs and Failures Tuesday! I share a weekly parenting triumph or failure, and you get to judge with impunity. 

This week, I score a triumph (you can't see it, but I'm simultaneously pumping my fist and doing the running man)! And that triumph is going to Puerto Rico without the kids.

Standing in front of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

This was our first trip without the kids. Our close friends invited us to their destination wedding, and, though my wife suggested we take, at least, our older kid, I said, "No." Because, if we were going to do this, we were going to do this right: no kids.

Don't get me wrong. I want to travel with the kids. I want to literally show them the world--tortoises on Galapagos, the crowded streets of Manila, the London Bridge not falling down. But those are trips for when they are older. When they can better appreciate the travel. When there isn't an open bar. Because we didn't have that much time on this trip outside of celebrating our friends' wedding, I figured it would be best to leave the kids with my parents. 

And it was great. Laya and I got to spend time with our friends and see a little of Puerto Rico without having to worry about our kids. More importantly, we got a chance to refocus on our relationship and why we got married and had kids in the first place. We got to talk about things that can only be really talked about when one is able to slow down and reflect. And we were able to recharge for when we got home from our trip.

I feared that leaving the boys with my parents would be pure torture for them. That they would miss us so much that they wouldn't be able to function. That Laya and I would get a call at 2am from my parents telling us to cut our vacation short because we needed to fly back home to save our kids from despondency. Did any of that happen? Heck no. Based on the daily pictures my parents texted me, those kids were on a vacation themselves. No more strict parents telling them what they couldn't do, sleepovers with their older cousin, and pretty much getting spoiled rotten by their grandparents.

In fact, when we went to pick the boys up, X didn't want to come home with us. It took him an hour to warm back up to us (an hour!). He still mentions his vacation from us like it was the best thing that's ever happened to him. Granted, he only says "Nonno! Nonna! (our grandparent names for my parents)," but, when he says it with such frequency and such excitement, I get the hint.