Pre-Labor Day

Tomorrow is Labor Day.  For what will you be laboring?  (sigh) A celebration of the American worker? Huh.  The significance seems wasted today on summer swimsuit blowouts or a huge sale on mattresses (with a free box spring).  

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring-- more emotional labor, for sure.  For today, I've devised a short-term escape from my little suburban life.  I'm seeking refuge at my parent's house a few hours away.  The kids are eating ice cream sandwiches, watching movies, and playing Minecraft.  This afternoon, we will swim with my nephew, brother, and sister-in-law. This is vacation time for me.

It's strange to look back at times I've either scheduled without my husband or he wasn't able to make the event.  I am typically less stressed out.  Two years ago, when my grandmother died, I traveled with my parents and brother to Maine.  It was a short, weekend trip to the northeast.  We drove and reminisced and it was a spectacular visit. (I know I sound insensitive to the event, but she'd been dead and cremated for 2 months already) My family stopped at a mom and pop shop for lobster rolls. We were entertained by the antics of my dad's inbred relatives (yes, yes I admit they are my relatives too).   My brother and I got wasted in an underground bar near our hotel.  I flew home completely hungover.  Good times.

Then there are the weekends I've spent with friends.  We register for 15k races. We run 9 plus miles.  We then spend the remainder of the weekend eating great food and shopping.  There are no chats about men or children.  We just laugh and enjoy a slice of freedom.

It's not my original thought, no -- but, the loveliest times are when everything is fun and relaxed.  Life should be about being happy and feeling safe.  There should be little stress.  That is an ideal life.  No, none of us live the ideal life. I get that.  But shouldn't we allow ourselves to recognize these patterns of discord?  If we are already laboring in our factory life, shouldn't our time at home be labor free?  It should be.  It needs to be.