fly away home

tomorrow i am leaving for canada.

today has been a pretty frantic day, trying to take care of last minute details and show my mum and dad everything they need to know about running the house for the next few days.

i have no problems with leaving my kids. charles and i left sebastian alone for romantic weekend jaunts when he was just a poppet, and right after the triplets were released from the nicu i went to india with charles for five days of walking numbly through the streets of bangalore, a city i now detest for several reasons.

but this time, it is tough to leave the kids. they are not pulling guilt trips, there are no tears or beggings to take them. they're fine, i'm not. i haven't left the kids for so long, it's not in my groove. i'm no longer the mum who leaves her kids for funky getaways. i'm much more staid.

this morning, right after carys had shuffled out of bed, i offered her sanctuary in my room. we cuddled for a while and whispered about silly things, and then i said to her, "kitten, did you know that tomorrow mummy will be taking the airplane?" and she smiled and said, "yes". i tried to explain to her that mummy would miss her very much, but my little flaxen haired darling just smiled and shushed me because she wanted to sing the theme song from bob the builder which was on the telly.

tonight as jasper was brushing his teeth, i went over to him and reminded him, "jasper, tomorrow mummy will go on the airplane, right honey?" and he said, "but i want you to brush my teeth NOW!"

oh these kids will not miss me much. but i am going to miss them A LOT! they are incredibly naughty and frustrating and hands on, but so very fascinating.

remind me and i will try to tell you about frugal blake's aborted birthday party. oh the tears.

Comments

[joeinvegas]

Oh no - the worst part might be your return, when they tell you about what a good time they had with granddad, and couldn't you go back for a little while?

[Tertia]

Yes, I am also not the type to go away on holiday on my own. I just can't do it. Maybe when they are bigger.

I hope you wont miss them too much and that you will have some fun.

xx

[Lowa]

I always miss my kids more than they miss me. It gets easier as they get older, in some ways.

I am glad they did not guilt trip you. When hubby and I had my parents down from Saskatchewan in November and left for Hawai'i, our younger two cried and clung to me! And they are eight and seven!

Have a great time in Toronto!

[Coral]

I hope Frugal Blake did not cry too much - yes, I remember he is your dad!!

[Amber]

Hi Tess,

I have a question for you that is completely unrelated to your post. I really love your daughters' names, especially Carys. My late Granddad was Welsh so it's very close to my heart. I was wondering if you, or maybe if one of your friends/relatives, can tell me how to pronounce it correctly? I know there are many ways people say the name since it's shown up in North America, but I think I remember reading in your blog that your grandfather used to use it in a Welsh expression when you were little, so I figured you'd know the traditional pronunciation. I keep wanting to say KARE-iss, but I think it's actually kah-RISS. Or maybe I'm totally off?

This is driving me crazy so I'd really appreciate the help, haha.

Thanks,
Amber