Reality Sinks

Each summer, my girlfriends and I come together from all corners of the world to holiday together.  This year, it was their turn to come to me and so last August, while we were all together on the Isle of Mull, we began to plan a beach holiday for this coming August and chose North Carolina as our destination.

A few weeks ago while G-chatting, we picked up that discussion where we had left off and by the time we signed off, we were almost giddy at the thought of spending a week together someplace like this with friends and babies.

Yesterday, we emailed back and forth for hours trying to figure out the logistics of the holiday: direct flights as opposed to non-direct ones. Would it be easier to vacation on the Cape instead, since flights from London to Boston are more accessible for the girls abroad? Should they rent cars at the airport or catch a shuttle?

Today, however, the "what ifs" set in: Abbie is due at the end of April and is nervous about traveling abroad with a young infant and as much as it breaks my heart that her family may not join us this year, I know that I need to understand.  We've always maintained that we not disrupt our lifestyles when babies came along and we pledged to do just that, however we're discovering that whereas everything usually sounds better in theory than it is in reality, parenting is just the opposite.

Theoretically, everything related to parenting is terrifying and the unknown is a new mother's worst enemy.  Reality is never as bad as thoughts of what could be but recognizing that while planning for the future is terribly difficult to do.

I hope it gets easier and that my girls and I find a way to make it work because I need them desperately, particularly now that we have entered(are entering) motherhood together.  

The good news is that Eliza's fairy godmother is making the trip from Abu Dhabi, come hell or high water, and will be here to spend that week in August with us... well, that is if she can find someone to take care of her fur baby...