You’d think at this point in my life leaving the kids in someone else’s care wouldn’t merit a second thought. It’s something that I do nearly every day: dropping our daughter off at school before taking the boy over to daycare. But, for whatever reason, the idea of leaving them with the carers at the resort evoked the same feelings of guilt that I had all those years ago when I first left them at daycare. It felt selfish, like I was resigning them to unrelenting boredom whilst I’d get to indulge my every whim. I know that’s not the case but still part of me felt intent on running a guilt trip on me as we sized up dropping the kids off at the club.
It’s also not like the first thing we did with them this morning either. Everyone had thankfully managed to get a solid amount of rest, even if the kids’ internal clocks had them up and about at their usual hour (which is to say at least an hour before we would like them to be). Breakfast was also far less chaotic with the kids now somewhat familiar with everything which meant, of course, making a beeline for the chocolate filled pastries. We also managed to scrounge up a decent coffee as well, something that shouldn’t be particularly shocking but the in-laws had said that they could only do American style drip coffee. Turns out you just needed to ask.
Our daughter wanted to spend some time with Mum getting their nails done so I took the boy swimming. Or at least that was the plan as he could not seem to make his mind up about which pool he wanted to be in. This was partly my fault though as I didn’t want to get in so it was just going to be him along with the other resort kids. Yesterday this was no problem so I figured I had maybe an hour to listen to my book whilst he had some fun but no, that wasn’t to be. So instead we wandered down to the local beach to look for shells and other trinkets. This was around 10AM and the sun had come out with a blazing fervor that I didn’t think I’d see outside of Australia. So we beelined it back to our room to cool off before thinking about our next move. Our daughter showed up not long after and this is when those pangs of guilt started to hit home.
They went without much complaint, although the boy did show some last minute resistance when it was clear he was going to be left there without Mum. But we blasted ourselves out of there quick smart, helped in no small part by one of the sisters-in-law who had come along to see our room (which has lagoon pool access) and to have a break whilst her 1 year old was down for a nap.
We then spent the next few hours having a couple drinks, picking through a cheeseboard and shooting various kinds of shit until the fiancé arrived with the baby. Then it was 4 adults vying to win the attentions and accolades of the young one who has a stare that could bore holes in rocks. I wasn’t about to give up so easily though. I’ve won over a staunch German baby before, I can win over my in-laws spawn too.
Once they’d had some late lunch we invited them back to the lagoon pool as it gets shaded in the afternoon making it the perfect spot to get away for a bit without boiling in the sun. This is where the 1 year old discovered her love of launching herself off high things into her daddy’s arms, much to the heart palpitations of her mother. It made for some great photos though.
It was about an hour or so of that before the 1 year old was due for the next nap so they then took off back to their room leaving my wife and I alone for the first time in the trip. We spent that time well, doing the things that we used to love to do when we were on vacation. I clocked a few more chapters off my book, got in some more rest and was then ready for whatever dinner plans that might’ve been cooking.
I had indicated that this trip may have been a not-so-subtle attempt by one of the sisters-in-law to have a birthday overseas and well, today was the day. It also just so happened to be the same day when the kids club was running a movie night so that gave all us adults the chance to skedaddle out for a dinner somewhere that wasn’t in the resort. The place they chose was a favourite of the in-laws who’d stayed at this resort a couple times before, a Japanese-fusion restaurant that had a menu that must’ve made the chefs out the back nervous with the number of dishes they had to prepare. We settled on a bunch of deep fried dishes and, like everyone at the table, grossly overestimated how much we should’ve ordered. It was good, especially for the price, although I think we did ourselves a disservice ordering too many fried dishes.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when we got back: two kids passed out in front of a movie screen, red-eye children curled up in the corner lamenting their abandonment or some stern eyed staff who’d dress me down for having such unruly kids. The reality was none of these of course and instead what I found was a daughter lounging in the front row of kids covered in a fine layer of popcorn obviously enjoying life to its fullest. The boy was a little more muted, squatting up the back trying to avoid some of the scarier parts of the movie they were watching. Our daughter wanted to finish the movie while the boy wanted to make his way back home. Both of them seemed happy though, something my guilt this morning would not have had me believe was a possibility.
They both went down easily, helped partly by my wife finding the large hermit crab that she’d discovered the other day and brining him inside for the kids to gawk at. Oour daughter got in her usual late night funk and decried that she actually hadn’t had any fun today at all. This is par for the course for her though, especially seeing as she had said not 10 minutes earlier that she wanted to go there every day.
Perhaps now it’s time to think about what I want to do with the time I have remaining here rather than just thinking about how to get through it. This is the first trip in, well ever, where I haven’t planned things down to a…reasonable (I swear the hour by hour schedule is only a guideline!) level so I really don’t even have a sense of what’s on the table. My last trip to Indonesia was spent on the other side of the island, doing work in the Australian Embassy for 12+ hours a day. I got time away, sure, but it’s not like I really got a sense for what I think a good time in Bali could be like. The manta ray diving trip was fun though.
Something to think on, I guess.
