People keep asking me if I'm going to miss my kids when they leave to spend most of July with relatives in Kansas. Well, yes, I'm sure my husband and I will have moments when it will seem way too quiet in the house.

Let's be honest, though. If you knew your children were going to be well cared for and having a blast, and you had made plans to take some fun "couple" outings in their absence — for the first time in nearly 11 years — would you be focusing on how much you were going to miss them?

For all the joy our children bring us — the excitement of watching my son reel in his first rock bass or my daughter perfecting the art of hula-hooping — every day brings a new challenge with them, too. Teaching, caring for, disciplining, etc., etc. — parenting is exhausting. So, in the interest of spreading that joy they bring us, why wouldn't we give Grandma and Grandpa (and aunts, uncles and cousins) an opportunity to spend some time with those lovely children of ours?

When my husband and I are sitting quietly on the back deck overlooking Keuka Lake during our mini-vacation in a few weeks, we'll probably be nearly in tears, missing the two of them arguing over who gets to sit where or how dumb the other one is.

It's getting difficult for me to not turn this post into complete saracsm.

But seriously, there's a little mix of feeling giddy and anxious about their departure this coming weekend. We're meeting my brother-in-law at the halfway point close to the border of Ohio and Indiana Saturday night and then going our separate ways Sunday morning. I'll probably cry a little.

An hour later, though, as the two of us drive toward kidless freedom
for the next few weeks, I think I'll get over it.