Help! I'm Vacationing with a Teen!

This past weekend my daughter  and I went on a “girl’s weekend.”  We packed a bag and headed for a bizarre but unique museum-of-sorts called “House on the Rock” near Madison, Wisconsin.  I was thrilled to go.  My daughter has been away at college for a year and she came back having a new appreciation for “Mom.”   (My friends said it would happen but I had too much post-traumatic teen stress to believe it.)  In just one short year, I’d shed the labels of “uncool”, “lame”, “pathetic” and “kinda creepy.”  (I believe that now I am well on my way to “Woman of the Year.”)  

Our weekend was a mere 36 hours long.  I thought it would consist of a nice “House on the Rock” visit, an overnight stay at a hotel, reading and dinner.  After all, as I remember it “vacation” means rest and relaxation.  

Hold on to your seats folks.  I forgot what “vacation” means to the young at heart.  In just 36 hours, we visited House on the Rock (a two hour tour of the collections of Alex Jordan), Cave of the Mounds (a one hour tour of a limestone cave), the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor’s Center (my daughter is studying to be an architect), a game of racquetball (which consisted mostly of hysterical laughing), a game of tennis (more laughing), a stop at a roadside petting zoo, a visit to “Little Norway” (just like Norway – but little) and finally, a peek at the Wild West Museum.

When we returned home I was still running, high on the NoDoz I took just to make the three hour drive without needing a nap at the wheel.   I felt invigorated!

The next morning, my daughter left the house at 5:00 a.m. to work at her summer bakery job where she stayed until 3:00 p.m.  The next morning, I didn’t look cool.  I looked pathetic, lame and “kinda creepy.”   I stayed in bed ‘til 12:00 and I believe I can tell you how it feels to be in a bar fight.   It has taken me two full days to recover.  And yes, you guessed it, my daughter is still going strong.  Maybe “cool” was too big of a goal to reach in 36 hours.  I’m pretty proud of hanging in there, not breaking anything and remaining conscious as I drove the rugged terrain of Northwest Wisconsin! 

Who needs to be young and cool again anyway?  It’s just  too exhausting!