I've mentioned before that this year we bought a trailer. So far we've had several weekend trips and one whole week stay in the great outdoors of Manitoba. Growing up, I loved camping. And even though last year's "camping" experience with the kids was as much stress as fun, both me and the kids have grown a little older, wiser and calmer, making for a much more relaxing vacation. It's nice to be able to get away from the busy "city" life, not worrying about compulsively checking email or hearing the sometimes daily calls from work begging for me to come in.
There's something so freeing about washing your hair in the river, feeling like something out of a shampoo commercial...
..something so magical about the squeals of little boys when a frog they just caught jumps out of those little hands...something so endearing about smiling faces sticky with marshmallow residue...
...something so fulfilling about the thought that years from now there will be two young men who smile at the memories of these moments...
I do love nature (except the mosquitoes of course). But now as the mom, I also find I really enjoy keeping the trailer clean. Those who actually know me, and have seen my house (or my bedroom growing up) are probably still trying to make sense of that last sentence. It's true. I find such satisfaction in my role as "housewife" looking around at the clean trailer. While at home, I look around and only see the messes and feel like I've gotten a big fat F in my wife & mother course. When we're out camping, with mud caked to our shoes and sand falling out of our bathing suits, our habitat is actually cleaner and tidier than our everyday home. At home there is evidence of previous meals that have boiled over hidden beneath the burners, while the dishwasher sits full of clean dishes waiting to be put away, while the dirty ones wait patiently in the sink "soaking". Camping without a dishwasher, I wash dishes after every meal and wipe every surface (even under the stovetop) until it's shiny. At home, There is a layer of dog hair beneath the end tables and forgotten McDonald's toys beneath the couch, and the bottoms of my socks are perpetually blackened while the boys take after their father wandering through the house with their outside shoes on and the dog runs in through the dog door after digging in the garden. The trailer can be swept clean in 2 minutes flat and every toy is put away in the appropriate home before moving on.
