anybody else feel this way? Please assure me that I'm normal

eshes chayil

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 1:19 pm

With so many kids off to camps, all I hear from other mothers is how hard it was for them to send away their kids. How they were crying, how they miss their kids already and don't know how they will handle the next few weeks without their kids at home.
Me? I was counting the days, and then the hours, till they would leave! I am revelling in the (relative) peace and quiet. I sent away 3 school age children, and am home all day with 4 preschool aged children.
I love all my kids to pieces and enjoyed having all of them home all day, every day, for the past month. But honestly, I am SO glad they left for a bit!
Is there something wrong with me? any other mothers out there feeling like this?

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 1:24 pm

No biggie. Entirely natural. You are at peace they were ready to go.

Sure you love your kids, but nothing in nature is unalloyed.

G-d always sees us and always loves contact with us, but we are not on that level.

b from nj

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 2:06 pm

If I sent off 3 school aged kids to camp & was still home with 4 pre-schoolers, you'd better believe I'd be throwing a HUGE party!!! Obviously, even though you love your kids, it is nonetheless overwhelming when they are all underfoot & it's understandable that you might need a break & even when they are away, you are not exactly on a break anyhow.

Besides, I wonder if all the other tearful mommies are as busy as you are even with your older ones at camp & even if they are, just remember that everyone is different. It doesn't make them any better or worse of a parent that you are.

Chayalle

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 2:19 pm

My 14 1/2 year-old DD goes to camp this week, which means:

*Next week if I ask my 12 year old to help with something, I won't hear "you always ask me. you never ask older sis"

*There will be no fights over who gets to read Binah first on Monday morning

*no "she bosses me" "she never does anything" "she's so annoying" "could you tell her to stop singing" FOR FOUR WHOLE WEEKS

*There will be one less pair of shoes, crocs, AND sneakers (each) on the living room floor

*My laundry load will be reduced by 1/3

*With my picky eater gone, my dinner menu will be simplified

*I can shmooze on the phone with my sister, without my teenager joining in the conversation or eavesdropping

*Privacy (no further explanation needed)

*My younger kids use the tub in the kids' bathroom. My shower will be all mine.

and I could go on.

OP either we are both normal, or we are both crazy!

Enjoy!

Fox

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 2:37 pm

Perfectly normal, OP! I love seeing my kids become more independent, and I've never been able to understand people who are emotional and tearful over it. Different strokes and all that.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 2:43 pm

When DD went of to her first day of kindergarten, I did a happy dance around the living room. That day felt like a vacation in Hawaii for me!

I felt guilty for about two seconds, and got over it. Cheers

self-actualization

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 3:52 pm

I don't know why this is, but I qualify for the title "helicopter parent." My kids aren't ready for sleep-away camp but as of now, I can't even contemplate sending them! I am the type of parent that cries when a kid reaches a new stage, etc. Yesterday my older kids went to the beach with my parents and I davened twice that they should have a safe day. I was SO worried about them. I have told each of them that when they grow up and get married they will IY"H buy houses on my block (hopefully I will be able to help them so it will sweeten the deal) ... Smile

There is a legend in the banking industry in NY (where I work) that a graduating college student applied for a position at Goldman Sachs. A few weeks later the student's parent called to see why the student hadn't gotten a response yet. The in-house recruiter was so horrified with the helicopter parenting that the student was taken out of consideration for the position. (However, I can see myself doing that ... Smile

)

greenfire

Mon, Jul 22 2013, 4:10 pm

when they were little I liked to play camp mommy ~ that was our summer fun

over-grown teenagers are a nightmare ... so no vacation for me, even if I left to another city on my own something inevitably goes wrong