Life is busy, but more importantly it’s short and unfortunately sometimes I fall victim to just going with the flow and forgetting about what really matters.

This past Friday Ella decided she wanted to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa and set off for a fun-filled vacation…leaving us in the dust. At first I thought it was a great opportunity for Joe and I to get stuff done; we have a lot of household projects to be completed, a wedding to be planned and it would be kind of nice to remember what a social life together is like – which is why we agreed to ship her off.

The first couple of days were fine. We kept busy by hitting up a good ‘ole Wisconsin fish fry and then followed it with date night the next day. It was so nice to do things together and not have to worry about the logistics of lining up a babysitter.

Then Monday came, which is when we usually settle into our normal routine, and Ella’s absence became glaringly obvious. We had no alarm clock to wake us up by screaming “Mom come get me” at the top of her lungs, we had all these tiny clothes but no one to wrestle them onto and we were both able to shower and still get to work on time. Nice, right?

Wrong. Turns out I hated not having Ella here to argue with in the morning. I have actually become extremely skilled in putting her hair up while moving around the entire house and I kind of like being late to work (the showering was nice though).

Here’s the deal – sometimes handling Ella everyday is challenging and I get frustrated with her, but that’s what makes it so much more rewarding. After not having her for a week I am reminded that being Ella’s mom truly is the best.job.ever!

<—So happy to have my family back again.