Grandparent Hangover

Andy and I just got back from 5 days of house hunting in Virginia in preparation for our move this summer to the Quantico Marine Corps Base.  Since last week was the West Point spring break Andy took leave and we checked out the area.  The housing on base (it is a Marine base so I will have to get used to saying base, not post) is not in our favor.  There are only 24 houses that can accommodate our family size and they are all full with no vacancies planned any time soon.  The housing representative described the waiting list as “indefinite”.  On to plan B… We looked online at a few houses but had no idea what the neighborhood, schools, area, etc. were like.  If, in the end, we need to sign a lease for a house sight-unseen we would at least know what the neighborhood was like and where it was located.  We may have found something that will suit our needs for the next year, but it is not totally perfect.  That is the nice thing about frequent Army moves… everything is temporary so you learn to live with imperfection.  If we end up hating the house or area, we will only be there for the rest of the year (staying positive is my strong suit). 

Since we had all 3 kids in tow we asked Andy’s parents to come to VA with us.  They were planning on coming to NY in April anyway and this was a much shorter distance for them to drive and we needed someone to entertain the kids while we checked out the area.  It seemed like a win-win.  We left the kids with the grandparents for two entire days while we fought Virginia traffic and looked at what felt like 100 houses (it was actually only 8), and then co-existed with the kids and grandparents for another 2 days.  This led to a HUGE grandparent hangover for our kids.  The phenomenon known to us as the ‘grandparent hangover’ is very similar to a real hangover.  You are really tired, dehydrated, have a stomach ache, just need a nap, have put junk into your body that now needs to come out one end or the other and have not bathed.  Oh yeah, and you have an entitled feeling that makes you think that you can do whatever you want.  Our kids swam in the hotel pool almost all day for two days with only a ‘rinse’ afterwards.  They ate junk food, did not nap, stayed up late, and woke up early.  While I understand that this is what grandparents do… I am left to deal with the after effects… the hangover.  Addison’s hair was so tangled that even after a leave in conditioner treatment I could barely comb through it.  Both big kids had diarrhea for two days and Allie did not sleep well for almost 4 days until she could get back on her schedule.  Drew actually started as sentence with, “But Grandma says that we can do whatever we want…”  And even though they spent half the week with us I know that they are going to come to West Point in April anyway so we get to suffer the hangover again.

We were also introduced to a new word via text from some very close friends of ours.  The word is “hangry” and I believe that the definition is: a sudden anger and general bad attitude brought on by lack of food.  Andy, of course, expanded the theme to cover being tired or pregnant as well but changed the root word for effect.  The first time he called me “titchy” you could label me as “hangry” but you have to replace hunger with husband.

In addition to swimming in the hotel pool, jumping on the beds, doing crafts we brought with us and a ton of time at the McDonalds playland, we did go to the natural history museum in DC and to the national aquarium in Baltimore.  The kids had a great time and hopefully we got a house so we don’t have to make another trip down.  Keep your fingers crossed that the home owners “approve us” to rent their house.  I don’t know why they wouldn’t… I have an almost perfect family.  I am sure my kids and dog would not ruin a thing.