It’s that time of year when I feel like crawling into a sleeping bag, pulling my family in with me, and shutting the whole world out.
Instead, I’m planning to do the next best thing for two days over Christmas: We’re going to a hotel and hanging out for 24 hours.
And no, we’re not going to Miami or L.A. or any place fabulous like that. We’re just going to a small town in Connecticut and staying overnight at a Quality Inn.
Why do I feel the need to drive 100 miles from home and lock myself in a small room with two noisy boys and their father?
Well, it has more to do with what our daily lives are like in mid-December than anything real exciting on the other end.
At work for both me and my husband, December is a mad rush to complete all the projects we’d planned for this year, while planning ahead for 2007.
By the time I get home, it’s pitch-dark — even if I arrive at 5:30 p.m. None of my neighbors are hanging out on their front steps; the kids aren’t playing ball outside. Even walking the dog’s kind of a drag in the cold and dark.
And then there’s the homework that sucks up my evening every night. On the theory that I already lived through third grade, not to mention ninth grade, I had a hands-off homework attitude for the first few months of the school year. Then I saw my children’s grades in November, and realized that while it’s nice to encourage kids to be independent, it’s more effective to spend the hours between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. supervising, cajoling, and when that doesn’t work, screaming, if what you expect from your children is academic success.
And so, in the past few weeks, I have relived everything from “Catcher in the Rye” with my teenage son, to writing a capital Q in script with my younger son. It’s about as fulfilling as watching a rerun of a show you hated the first time.
Finally, it’s holiday time. And with that come all the invitations you can’t say no to. I am blessed and grateful to be invited, this month, to four Christmas parties, two Hanukkah parties, a bat mitzvah, a wedding anniversary dinner, and two Broadway shows. But I’m exhausted too. On top of that, of course, is shopping. When I’m not neurotically checking the balance on my credit card or my bank account, I’m making sure I have exactly the same number of gifts for each kid, tracking packages for things I ordered over the Internet, and standing on long lines in stores.
Is it any wonder I can’t wait to get to a motel off the Interstate for a little R&R? The phone won’t ring, no one will knock on the door. I won’t even have to walk the dog because we’ll board her for the weekend. No homework, no cooking that night; maybe we’ll even order in a pizza or Chinese food so we don’t have to deal with the potential stress of finding a restaurant. I’ll bring Boggle, our favorite game, and the kids and I will combine our scores against their dad, knowing he’ll win anyway. Someone else will take out the trash and make the bed, and if we get really ambitious, maybe we’ll put on our bathing suits and go check out the hotel pool.
OK, so it won’t be as exciting as zipping off to Vegas or San Juan, and the kids won’t have anything on the girl upstairs who’s going to Paris or the classmate who spends Christmas at Disney. But their mom will come home refreshed and happy just to have been in a cocoon for 24 hours with her boys. And surely that’s worth something.
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This week’s advice: Check out hotel chains that offer credit cards with membership points that entitle you to a free night, and remember that many chains allow both you and your spouse to sign up for a card. Of course, you may not have enough points for a hotel in a coveted destination like New York City, but chances are you’ll be able to find a location in the chain not too far away that will work. Look for nearby suburbs or outlying neighborhoods. American Express is offering a deal right now with Starwood hotels where you can get a free credit card and enough points after using the card once for up to three free nights, depending on location. Sometimes just getting away from home for a night with the family, even if you don’t go anywhere terribly interesting, can be a lot of fun. For kids, make sure there is an indoor pool and that it’s open and heated. If you’re away Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, inquire in advance about places to eat dinner, since many venues are closed.
