proud mom

i imagine that IF you do not have children you will not understand the significance of this statement...but if you DO have children...especially teenagers you will totally understand where i am coming from.

I HAD A WONDERFUL WEEK'S VACATION...now keep in mind that i drove 12 hours down and 12 hours back plus stayed in a hotel with three 17 year olds and three 19 year olds for 7 days...AND I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS.

these girls were amazing.

i have to admit i was a little nervous about taking that many kids to the beach for a week...and other than a couple of them getting sea-sick while fishing and one mild case of sun-poisoning we had a fantastic week. the weather was great. the accomodations were great. the attitudes (most important) were great.

i had a few hours one day when i was a bit out of sorts...but nothing related to the kids. after spending all the time fretting over "my first solo" trip to myrtle beach and the stress of the drive down and checking in and getting everyone all set (which was a breeze on all counts) i had a really rough time on the beach. i am a huge people watcher and i love to just sit and watch people interact with each other...and you guessed it...we were surrounded by dad's and their daughters. lots of them. playing catch with a football or frisbee. jogging together down the beach. body-surfing on the waves together.

because i am living in a different time zone as my kids i usually was up and walking on the beach around 6:30am and then just sat under an umbrella on the beach until i got the 10:30am call for breakfast. the one day i just sat down there with tears running down my face...i thought by now i would be past this annoying emotional stuff...but tim was such an interactive dad and it hurts me to know that the girls are missing out on that aspect of their lives. i had a friend remind me that the few short years that tim did have with his girls he spent more quality time with them than most dads do living a full long life. i know that is true but it still hurts.

this morning before we left megan and i were observing a dad that was over-reacting to something his son did while at breakfast...i just wanted to go over and smack him on the side of the head and tell him to chill-out and enjoy these moments with his kids. life is too short to sweat the small stuff...

it was not a long drawn-out experience BUT there is not a day that goes by that i don't still miss having that guy around.

thanks for checking in

tammy