It happens to me almost every single time. If I’m going away for more than a night. If I’m going further away than a days drive. If I’m going without Babe. It happens every time.
I present to you my cycle.
It was MUCH prettier in my head. But at that point my head was sitting next to my pretty sister losing yet another $20 bill to the video poker gods drinking yet another “free” drink. And right now I’m rounding the finish in this cycle so I’m too tired to make it that pretty for you. I did miss them though. Terribly. All their faces and all their chaos.
What does your cycle look like when you go away?
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jnwalker1222
75 Responses to my cycle
Lindsay
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 8:18 PM
Makes me glad to know I’m not the only mom out there whose kid can make me want to pull my hair out … then make my heart melt almost simultaneously. Love this!
Jamie
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 8:43 PM
Thanks Lindsay! Even one of the princesses is making me batty — and then I feel guilty… and then batty… and then guilty… ah!
Bridget
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 4:40 PM
It looks almost exactly the same!
Jamie
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 8:44 PM
Glad to be in good company!
Sisterhoood of the Sensible Moms
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 8:34 AM
Very creative post. Sometimes you just need your funny quickly.
Jamie
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 2:45 PM
Ha! Thank you!
DT
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 10:07 PM
OHHHHH.. THAT cycle… I thought it was going to be another cycle!
Jamie
Replied on: February 3, 2012, 2:46 PM
Someone pointed out that it very well could be! That’s funny!
Mommy2¢
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 5:24 PM
I’m right there with you. Only my “Get me outta here, Somebody please save me” moment usually comes aprox. 2 hours after I’ve returned when the kids start in with the picking on each other, fighting, crying.… etc. etc.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:12 PM
Mine usually is too… but this time everyone was asleep when I came home so it gave them a buffer!
Jackie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 3:39 PM
I am jealous Jaime you got a chance to getaway! Love the flow chart, That mama guilt is almost strong enough to ruin a vacation…almost.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:13 PM
Almost is right, until they open the wine!
Shannon from 'mynewfavoriteday'
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 3:19 PM
My cycle looks pretty the same and pretty sure if pint this out I can remember the phases to I can skip a few steps! Loving the chart…well done. Hope you had a great time though and you won a little something!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:13 PM
That’s a good idea for the future!! I won nothing and had the BEST time ever!
Karin @Mommy's Paradise
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 2:12 PM
He he, so true. And you really lasted 2 whole days after you came back? I would be back to start much earlier.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:14 PM
They were all asleep when I got home so it saved me some time getting back in the groove!
Runnermom-jen
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 1:52 PM
This is awesome, Jamie, and so very true! Glad you had a great getaway
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:14 PM
Thank you!! So am I! Now I have to plan where to next!
Miss Marina Star
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 1:19 PM
OMG! I know this “cycle” so well…I am currently on the “Get me out of here!” part.
I did a girls Vegas trip last summer and it was so fun. Glad you were able to get away.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 3:44 PM
We spend most of our time there don’t we!?! Glad I saved you from the evil spawn of spam!
Lolo
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 10:52 AM
I miss mine terribly when I’m gone. If I’m alone, I worry that my husband will forget he even HAS a child, much less that he must feed her. Now she’s all grown up, though, and doesn’t need a mom anymore. So, I’m good to go!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:15 PM
Sounds like you need to take a trip then!
Jen Has A Pen
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 8:11 AM
Being that I don’t have kids yet, you’d think I’d be able to go away for a few days without all this internal dialogue. Buuuut, I can’t. It’s a dang shame. I have major packing anxiety, which is ridiculous consiering I own about 10 items of clothing. Then, when I’m gone, I’m thinking about my dogs. Are they being good? Have they peed on my friend/babysitter’s rug? It’s silly. But I do it too.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:15 PM
It’s not silly I used to do that too. The dog actually can make it worse because they can be more destructive at times!
Kindred Adventures
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 7:04 AM
Oh and I totally just PINNED your chart!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:16 PM
That’s the best thing ever! Thanks so much!
Kindred Adventures
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 7:03 AM
You are SO not alone. That is the exact cycle I go through too. My going away usually involves me going out with my sister and spending the night there. Someday it will involve an airplane. Regardless that push and pull happens. It is a tough one! Love love love the diagram. –LV
Kristin @ What She Said
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 5:42 AM
Ha! I can relate to this — I just wrote about it myself. I’d been craving solitude, positively craving it. So, then my daughter stayed with her grandparents after Christmas and my husband took a 2-day trip north to visit family and I was left all alone. It’s wonderful for exactly one day and then I started to feel lonely and desolate. I was so happy when they were both home and everything was back to normal.
And then exactly three days later, I was craving solitude again.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:17 PM
I just said to my husband what I want is to wake up in my own house during the week with nothing to do, no one to feed, change, etc. They can all come back after dinner in time for cuddles and bed. Just one day is absolutely right!
Karyn/@analogyqueen
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 11:23 PM
Oh my gosh that is so funny! Umbilical cords are like invisible ropes aren’t they!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:17 PM
Perfect analogy!
Greta
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:59 PM
Oh yes…mine looks EXACTLY like that. Glad you had fun, though!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:17 PM
WAY too much fun!!
Meg
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:49 PM
Love this! So true and so much funnier in a visual — I have a feelung Vegas will never be the same, ha!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:19 PM
Vegas never the same, me never the same. I can’t wait to go back though!
Bruna
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:29 PM
Mine looks exactly like yours Jamie! I couldn’t help but laugh
Me, me, and more me in a nutshell. We’re cycle twins!
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:18 PM
Cycle twins is funny!! Maybe it would be better if we went somewhere together!
Sarcasm Goddess
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:32 PM
Haha! I loved this! Love that it only takes two days and then you’re ready to start again.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:55 PM
I started with a thought of doing some art like you and my girl jillsmo but I just couldn’t make it happen! Oh and sometimes it takes two hours. They were all in bed when I got home — that helped!
Just Jennifer
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:31 PM
Ihave yet to leave my husband AND kids to go off by myself (13 years into marriage, 11 years into motherhood). BUT, my BFF and I are planning to the year we both turn 40…in 2 more years.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:55 PM
You need to start a campaign for this. It must happen!!
Just Jennifer
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:00 PM
I know. I’m considering adding a Donate button for a 40th birthday trip on my blog! But would that be tacky?
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:05 PM
Of course it would be but that’s why it’s awesome!!
Jennifer
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 7:24 PM
Love that cycle! It perfectly illustrates my thinking.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:56 PM
So glad I’m not alone!
Kristen @ The Chronicles of Dutch
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 5:51 PM
YES! Joy -> Guilt -> Joy -> Guilt …continual loop in my head! But those two days of joy when you get back home are priceless
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:56 PM
Couldn’t agree more Kristen!
Janice
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 4:33 PM
Beautiful! Don’t feel bad–this is pretty much my cycle as well, although mine would probably even have some tears thrown in there when the leaving actually takes place–and I don’t mean from the kids!
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:57 PM
Oh there were tears, I sniffled and wiped away the night before I left. I left at O’dark-thirty so no one was awake.
Jay- The Dude of the House
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 4:30 PM
It’s usually more of a guilt thing the whole time than anything else. Even though I’m not usually hanging on a beach in Maui when gone.
Thankfully I have FaceTime now, so I can always catch up on the go, though I haven’t been away since I got my new phone.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:58 PM
I’ve never hung on a beach in Maui, I need to work on that. Do you really feel guilty the whole time your gone? Babe says this too but I’ve never bought into it before…
Jay- The Dude of the House
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 5:51 PM
Maui is out of this world, but that’s another story.
Yes, I really do feel that way. I know it’s not easy to handle an active little one all day, so I both miss them and sympathize for my wife. Not that my child is a terror or anything like that.
Jamie
Replied on: February 2, 2012, 9:12 PM
THAT is a great point and perspective! yay you!
Mama and the City
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 3:20 PM
I love that you have a flow chart LOL
I was thinking the exact same thing the other day but about my day to day things. Then I said to myself: neh! takes too much time to draw.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:59 PM
I have a thing for flow charts. I used to teach Accounting! I started typing it in stages but the flow chart worked better in my head!!
LindsayOnTheGo
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 1:16 PM
I don’t have kids or a family yet so I can only imagine what you go through. Loving your family so much they drive you crazy or something like that, right?
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:00 PM
Oh yes Lindsay. Nail on Head.
XLMIC
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 1:00 PM
So awesome that you do enjoy the time away
My cycle is similar…except that little “approximately 2 days later” is WAY shorter. Maybe 2 hours.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:00 PM
Well they were all sleeping when I got home and I saw the babies first so that gave everyone some cushion time!
Andrea @ The Penny-Roach's
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:56 AM
Yes, this is exactly what it’s like for me too! After a few days of the craziness, I’m ready to get out. But once I’m out? I want to get home as soon as possible!
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:01 PM
So frustrating, right? Damn grass always being greener!
bottleinfrontofme
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 8:02 AM
That’s what flow chart symbols are for lol. Nice one
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:01 PM
haha my husband is upset I didn’t do this in PowerPoint — I told him to make his own!
Eric Storch
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 7:56 AM
Get away? You’re joking right? They won’t let me leave!
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:02 PM
They as in the small people? You do remember you’re the grown-up right?!
deborah l quinn
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 7:26 AM
Love that chart. I’ve now taken several solo trips away from family and I have to say that steps 3, 4, 5 (planning, worrying, guilt) have all gotten squeezed into one roughly twenty-minute blip, usually just before I walk out the door. It gets easier…and every time I get back, I’m nicer for longer. How’d you DO that chart anyway? Let me guess: you were on a *real* vacation and had time to sit at your screen and map it out?
hee hee hee
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:04 PM
Oh I can do twenty minute blips. I’ve got some other things on the calendar this year so I’m hoping this one will make them all better! And it was a REAL vacation that involved staying up WAY too late nights in a row. No relaxing with umbrella drinks. I used to teach basic computer skills and accounting so I’ve got some history with the flowchart!
Lenore Diane
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 7:23 AM
Funny … I was expecting a post about your menstrual cycle. Frankly, the cycle you created applies to my life — trips or periods. (smile)
Great post!
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:04 PM
LOL, you are RIGHT! It does apply to both! LOLOL Didn’t even catch that myself!
Joshua Walker
Replied on: February 6, 2012, 12:28 AM
Funny, I clicked on this post praying that I would not hear about menstrual cycles.
Oh well, I suppose it was inevitable.
The chart was really creative. You could teach a class on electronic art (not to mention one on writing). Keep up the good work.
Jamie
Replied on: February 7, 2012, 9:58 PM
That was the point! Hehe!!
Life As Wife
Replied on: January 31, 2012, 10:31 PM
Ah te mommy guilt cycle… I know it well.
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 10:06 PM
We go way back!
Erica M
Replied on: January 31, 2012, 10:19 PM
Yay! You got through! Good thing you were on Twitter, eh?
This is a fun chart. I always feel the exact same way. It’s hard being away from the kids.
(Not to get all sentimental, but it’s lovelinkers like you who caused your race against the clock tonight. Without you, we’d be sitting at 22 people at closing time, not at 50 an entire day early. Thank you for your constant support.)
Jamie
Replied on: February 1, 2012, 9:54 PM
And I got the button small this time too!
(I like being a part of your team!)