Soul Vacation

I've just recently returned from an extended vacation with my children and my parents.  I use the term "vacation" lightly as the job of fulltime parenting as many stay-at-home mothers know is an all-consuming task that requires more energy, if not more, than working at the office for nine hours. 

But it was a vacation from one thing- news.  Sure I glanced at the headlines on WRAL.com.  I scanned a few paragraphs of the local paper and caught the local television news on a rare occasion only really to check the weather.  I also kept in touch with the office and my contacts through my Blackberry (better known as a "Crackberry").  What I realized was that I needed a break from all of the murder and mayhem (literally) that consumes my workday day-in and day-out. 

Instead of being a news junkie I read a few good books, wrote a little bit, and had more than a few laughs with family and friends.  Most importantly for the first time in several months I really had a chance to not only look at my children, but to actually see them in a way that's almost impossible to do in the midst of a hectic daily routine.  I learned a lot about the very interesting and complex people they are  becoming.

Not only does a mental and emotional break from this kind of work re-charge my dwindling batteries, but it helps to give me new perspective on what I do and why I do it.   I didn't come back with all of the answers, but I do know one thing , for this reporter sometimes no news is good news.