We Were Going to Remodel a Bathroom But…

Our kids’ bathroom needs updating. Badly. Other than a few minor, inexpensive cosmetic changes that we made after we moved in 11 years ago, that bathroom still has the same look it had when the house was built in 1992.

And, the thing is, we’ve had the money to do it. We save and save and save some more and then when it’s time to pull the trigger we look at each other and just know that we’re going to do something else with that money.

I think the realization first hit us when our oldest began middle school. Suddenly we were aware that the coming years would go by even more quickly than the ones before and that we had so many things we wanted to do and places we wanted to visit with our kids. So, we didn’t remodel the bathroom. Not just yet.

Instead, we’ve traveled.

So far, just within the last six months, we’ve taken the kids along with us to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary on Maui and last week we spent their spring break in our nation’s capital. We navigated the metro system together, cracked up at moments that are now cherished family inside jokes, soaked up so much history that eventually even my eyes started glazing over a bit, had absolutely incredible conversations about what a privilege it is to live in this great country and expanded our horizons by getting to know a new city and its people.

And, here’s the thing we’ve realized. You think you have eighteen years, but you don’t really. Yes, you have the younger years. But, let’s face it, traveling with small children is no vacation. The reality is that you only have this little window of time when they are old enough to be super easy traveling companions who will actually remember these adventures someday and are still living under your roof. Before long, we will be coordinating work schedules and college schedules and significant others and all of the other adult-ish things that are coming and while we are determined to still be intentional about prioritizing family adventures, we know it will get a little bit more tricky to pull off.

So, we’re ok with postponing some of the remaining updates to our home. We’re ok with the kids’ bathroom still having hints of it’s 1992 origins. Let’s face it, with a teen and a tween it’s gross in there most of the time anyway. And, we’ll get around to it…eventually.

But, in the meantime, we are going to keep adventuring together. We have a running list of places we all want to see and things we want to experience and we’re just going to keep checking them off one by one.

One of the evenings after we got back from D.C., my husband and I were sitting on the couch together and noticed how quiet it was. Our son was hanging out in his room while our daughter had started getting ready for bed. And we missed them. Sure, after being together non-stop for 6 days we were all relishing a little bit of separation, but something really special happens when you travel together.

You get to escape all of the distractions of everyday life and somewhere in the middle of that forced togetherness, away from the homework and the laundry and the activities, you get the chance to learn more about each other. To create new memories and laugh over old ones. To just ‘be’.

And as we reflected on this truth, my husband and I quickly began planning our next adventure. We’ll keep you posted! 😉