My Twice Baked Potato

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.  It has been one week since my last posting.

I didn’t write in the evenings last week, because the days were just too exhausting.  The stress and worry about my TBP and the frustration about not hearing from his school after an important email was beyond tiring.  His sharing of self-doubt and dwindling self-worth at bedtime, made my nights long and restless.

All of it was too much.

We didn’t know how to do it, but it was time to break this cycle of stress.  We couldn’t wait until mid-winter break, he definitely couldn’t wait; so we made the decision to act immediately.

Instead of our traditional Friday Family Movie Night, we went for a Friday Family Movie Night Extravaganza!

If you are a loyal reader, you know that my son has a liking for fancy hotels.  He is impressed by the inviting beds, the sparse but tidy rooms, and a nice swimming pool.

After I got home from work yesterday, our family packed up and drove into the city.

There is something about a beautiful hotel lobby that promises relaxation and amnesia about the troubles left behind. We made it into our room, just in time to witness a beautiful sunset over the water.  My TBP was wowed with the view and the twinkle of the city lights.  The three of us took in the perfect moment.

We watched a Scooby Doo movie while enjoying delicious Chinese take out.  Being in a hotel room meant the to do list of laundry and other household chores had to wait.  For the first time in a long time, I sat and actually read a magazine. I liked it.

Later, we went to the pool.  I tried to squirm my way out of that promise, but my son was adamant that this was a family activity, a family swim. His eyes looked at me and I expected his mouth to say, “We deserve this.  We do it together!”

We had the pool to ourselves.  Actually, there was one woman swimming laps, but she made her quick exit once she realized that the pool would be the setting of a zombie apocalypse experience.  The stress of the week dissolved in that water.

After the laughing and smiles in the pool, we went back to our room to relax with some hot french fries and strawberry lemonades. We love room service.

There were a hundred and one very practical reasons why we should have stayed home and followed our traditional Friday night plans, but I’m glad that we didn’t.

Did the hotel trip solve the school issues?  Did it result in any of the school personnel emailing us back?  Did it create a kinder, gentler world for my square-peg boy?

No.  Did the family time help? Hell yes it did.

What do you do faithful readers when you need to break the cycle and shake it up?