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I'm ba-a-a-a-a-ck. Yep, after 10 days of enduring - I mean, enjoying - a vacation up at the family cottage I'm home....And now I'm ready for a real holiday.

I remember the day we left, getting ready to pack up the car... My Man looked at me adoringly and asked, "Are you excited?"

I stared dumbly back.

He continued. "For our vacation?"

I stared some more.

"Vaycay my ass!!!" I yelled.

OK, I didn't really. Didn't even come close. But I thought it. And added many expletives to that thought. And then I gazed back and replied, "Can't wait, lover".

Don't get me wrong, a good time was had by all. It was a special time. A precious time. A time of bonding. And, in many ways, a time of bondage. For me anyway. Y'see, when I think summer vacation, I think fun in the sun. And sure, we had that. Lots of it. But I also think relaxation. The only exertion being one of choice. Y'know, like an activity. Hike, bike, swim (or, in my case, sleep, eat, hang). It's easy math: Summer + Holiday = lazy days. But throw the family into that equation and what do you get? Work.

Work work, work....doesn't anybody, ahem, lounge anymore?

The answer is a whopping no. As an unemployed mother, being on a family vacation at the family cottage is basically exactly like being at home. Only there's no daycare, no programs, no nanny. Just the whole gang, the parents of the gang, and the friends and relatives and neighbours of the gang. All rip roarin' ready for a damn fine time.

That said, I've got it good. I know many a fool who plans every detail and then...SURPRISE! Their parents, their parents' friends, their parents' friends' kids and all manner of hangers on descend upon them. In our case, we chose the revolving door method. In with one group, out with another, and so on. So while it was kind exhausting with lots of mouths to feed, we made 'em all sing for their supper. They came. They cooked. They cleaned. We were all comrades, slaving - I mean, caring - for each other's kiddies as if they were our own. Hell, if we weren't having a vacation, no one else was either.

In retrospect, it was great. I'm recovered now. And it's easier said with the rose-coloured specs and all that. But maybe that's the design for life when it comes to the vacance en famille. In the old days I'd go on vacation and come back refreshed but also a little depressed. Now, I've returned from time away with the brood and couldn't be happier to be home...In my own space... Where I can plan a real holiday...