I went to a fantastic writers’ conference 700 miles from my home two weeks ago. For me, the weekend away was rejuvenating and exhilarating. For my husband, it was exhausting. For William, it was…well, we don’t really know. For Vivian, it was grief.
Thankfully, she expresses herself through art.
Here, then, are the five stages of grief that Vivian (and everyone else) cycled through, with apologies to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (not to mention those who are truly grieving).
Stage One: Denial
Things started out normal enough. My husband went through his normal routine of surfing the net while watching TV.
Stage Two: Anger
As the reality that I’m gone for more than an evening sinks in, Vivian screams.
Stage Three: Bargaining
Vivian debates, “If I miss Mommy the most, maybe she’ll come back.”
Stage Four: Depression
When bargaining does not work, purge thyself.
Stage Five: Acceptance
Vivian’s new approach: combine math and drawing.
I missed them all, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m looking forward to doing it again.
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Any absent parent stories out there?
Its nice to be loved!!!!!!!!!!!!XOXOXO 6
It is, Auntie!
Cute!
William missing mommy 0%… I say revert back to the denial stage!
Absolutely.
I was absent once. While I was still nursing. She barely noticed that I was gone. I was in pain from the abnormally large boobs. *sigh*
(You should frame those pictures – they’re fantastic! =)
Ouch! I remember the nursing ache. Distantly, but I still do.
Awww! It’s great that she can express her feelings in her art!
True. That girl has no problem whatsoever expressing her feelings…
Hahahahaha! While it is not funny that she missed you, the pictures go perfectly with the stages and your description is hilarious. I think it is even funnier because I am going to a blog conference this weekend and leaving my husband home with all of the kids. I’m glad you had fun!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am looking forward to following yours!
Thanks, Sonora. Hope you enjoy the blog conference and your husband survives….
Love, love, love this!
Thanks.
With traveling for work once or twice per month, I would be afraid of letting my kids express themselves through art! 😉 Cute post!
Do your kids have suitcase anxiety (to quote my cousin)?
I love the art work! I think my husband is the one who goes through all the stages when I’m gone. I love this post and how perfect each picture was with each stage. You can’t plan this stuff!
Amy
Yes, I think your point about husbands is very true: they go through more grief when we leave.
No suitcase anxiety here since I got the “brilliant” idea of bringing gifts home from my trips. So instead of anxious children, I have spoiled children. 😉
My step-son says to me as I say good-bye to him, ‘I miss you’ I always tell him, “Hey, you can’t miss me, I haven’t even left yet”
Yesterday we made a bit of a game out of it where I would tell him he had to wait 5 minutes before he could miss me. Papa would tell him when the 5 minutes was up. Just as a I turned away, he would yell out, ‘I miss you!’ and I would laughingly tell him that he just lost the game.
Too funny. It’s great when you can make a game out of it!
Love this! I went away leaving my daughter overnight for the very first time since she was born in September, spending six nights away and five days hiking in Utah. I wrote several posts about this, from my perspective and also from my husband’s and daughters 🙂
Your daughter is so very creative, I just loved every single picture. I think you should have them all framed, have them on a wall somewhere to show her and remind her of on those days when she forgets what it was like to have Mommy gone 🙂
The framing is not a bad idea. I’ll have to post them prominently when she’s 15…Utah sounds lovely.