Vacationing without my small child

Well we've made it safe and sound to Hawaii, and it is really quite beautiful here! We're staying on Maui, near Lahaina & right by the beach. I've got to admit right now that I've had, and still have, mixed feelings about this trip. You see, we've left Little M at home with Grammy. For five whole nights. My husband and I have each left her for about that long before, but at different times, so that one of us was always with her, sometimes with Grammy with us to help out a bit.

Since I'm going on about leaving my small child behind instead of going into details about our vacation, let's continue to chat about it, shall we? Little M is almost 2.5. She loves her Grammy, and is quite comfortable staying at Grammy's house, although up until this trip she'd never done it overnight alone. They've got all sorts of fun things planned, in fact, her days might even be busier than ours here in Hawaii! They went to the Pacific Science Center yesterday, have a dress-up play date with one of her second cousins today, might go to the zoo later this week, and will visit great grandma & grandpa too.

These are all things I wish we were doing with her, and I also wish she was here with us. Everytime we see another young family, we think of her, and miss her dearly. And while we both admitted (me before we left & my husband around the 24 h away mark) that we should have brought her, at the same time, she's having a blast there, and we are getting to do things here that we simply wouldn't be able to do with her here.

Together, we've gone in the hot tub both nights we've been here, we've gone snorkeling once, gone out to eat several times, flipped through maps and bird guides often, slept in both morning (although due to the 3 hour time change I'm finding myself away local time before 6 - but since that is almost 9 back home, that qualifies as sleeping way in to me!). If we had Little M along with us, we would be able to do these things, but not as a couple or to the same extent. Generally we've been able to be more selfish than I can remember being in a long time, because we don't have all the additional duties that comes with being responsible for a small child, 3 dogs, 13 chickens, a large garden, a steady job each, etc.

It's been wonderful to connect with my husband and dream for our future. To remember that we valued each other & intended to be together for the long haul even before we had Little M in common. To think about where and when our next vacation might be, with Little M along for sure. To start talking more seriously about when we will start trying for another child. To decide on the most logical order for our next few projects around the house & property. And even though it's been hard yearning for Little M as much as I have, I know that if we hadn't planned this trip as a childless trip we wouldn't have come to Hawaii. And I'm loving vacationing here!

Pictures to come when we get home, as apparently I forgot the camera download cord on the table at home (oops!).

What about you - ever left your (small) child(s) with the grandparents? Ever got to where you were vacationing and wished said grandparents could fedex your small child to you? Ever realized that vacationing alone really was pretty sweet even with missing your small child? :) And if you don't have a small child, even if you are yearning for one, please, enjoy your childless vacations! :)