Sunshine and Roses

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 Jo: One thing that requires mentioning is how we’re all getting along after almost six weeks of constantly being together for every. Waking. Minute… 

I am the kind of person who truly values alone-time and usually requires a daily dose of it to stay sane. This trip is the opposite of alone-time and I will admit it has not been easy. 

The kids are at each others throats most of the time (at least perceived), Tosh’s main purpose in life seems to be to annoy the fuck out of me (which he succeeds in 99% of the time) and I am often too exhausted to actually make the effort to get some alone time. 

I think summer breaks are always interesting for parents and moms especially, handling our kids way more than in a regular work-school schedule, everybody getting on each others nerves. This summer we opted to not have the normal routine of summer camps but to go backpacking across Europe for two months instead. This involves daily planning by Tosh and me, discussing, arguing and often a solid dose of compromising. This is draining by itself, but add the actual strain of daily packing and lugging of luggage across Europe- it’s a challenge for everyone involved. 

Sounds like fun you say? Yes, mostly a great experience but there are times (for me at least once a day) where I fantasize about all the possible ways I could murder my family. Today we were on a boat ride on the Bosporus straight, seeing Istanbul from the water. This would have been awesome if our children had not been nagging, kicking and hitting each other almost the entire two-hour boat ride. My murder fantasy of the day was obviously to drown them in the Bosphorus. 

Kidding ok! I love those suckers! 

Yesterday I managed to schedule a pamper-self-care evening at a nearby Turkish bath or ‘Hamam’. This included a Turkish steam bath, getting washed and massaged from head to toe by a Turkish mama, then pasted in clay and finally bathed in bubble soap. I have never been bathed by a person before and this Turkish mama reminded me a lot about what we do as midwifes. She gave part of her soul to me in caring for me- it was magical and almost had me in tears. 

Now I can face my family again for another few weeks. 



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