Stop

Round 9: Autumn 2012


Ben Cooper is 34, Denise is 26, Riley is 2 and Liam is 9 months.

Narrated by Denise Cooper.

I'm playing the stay-at-home mom at the moment. I never expected that I'd be this busy. I barely have time to eat and I haven't stayed in touch with any of my friends for months.

Riley is going through his terrible twos and sometimes I feel like I want to throw a tantrum as well. I'm so tired all the time.

Don't get me wrong. I love my kids but I miss some adult company and the challenges of work. We're having another mayoral election at the end of this year and dad says he misses having me as the campaign manager.

Ben is helping as much as he can when he comes home from work. He's wonderful with the kids and I can at least get something to eat and take a shower while he keeps the boys happy.

Sometimes I feel that he doesn't understand me though. Like the other night when he said he had a great idea and then suggested that we'd get a pet! I guess he could see the utter horror on my face as he said: "Honey, I'm just joking. What I really think is that we need a vacation - just the two of us!"

It turned out he had booked us a 3-day vacation at Kalaupapa Island and so we left the boys with the nanny and got to the airport.

We stayed in a small bungalow at the Pontibon Beach Resort. It was so great to step out of the taxi and see the ocean. We headed off to the beach right away and took a dip in the warm water.

We also got hot stone massages. I don't think I've ever been so relaxed in my life!

We explored the island a bit on our second day. I bought some souvenirs while Ben took a fire dancing lesson. I was afraid he would end up with severe burns but he was actually pretty good at it.

Most of the holiday we spent in bed though. It was so great to be together without any distractions. I had a lot of fun when we went camping in the mountains years ago but I have to say I prefer the beach holiday.

At the end of our stay we felt so good and relaxed that we even talked about having another baby. We both agreed that it would be wise to wait at least a couple of years before we start trying.

On our last night we sat on the beach by the fire and talked about our future. This vacation was exactly what we both needed - a break from our hectic life with kids and work and loans and everything. We definitely want to travel again, maybe next time we'll go to Far East and take the kids with us.

It was great to come back home and see that the kids were doing fine. Nanny Lilly has to be about 150 years old but she's so great with children!

Dad came over and told me that many people wished I would run for City Council. I was quite tempted so Ben and I had a talk and he told me to go for it. I went straight from holiday mode into politics again and I was elected even though I didn't have a campaign! I'm now a member of the City Council. And it gets even better: Ben was made an architectural partner in his firm! I'm so happy for both of us.

We've been sending money to Ben's parents every now and then. They're up to their ears in debt, partly because of Ben's college tuitions so we try to help out even though we have our own loan to pay for too. Ben's dad called him after he had gotten the latest check. He said that as much as they appreciate us helping them out they feel that it's not right that we send them money and then have to struggle with our own bills and loan payments.

Our future seems much brighter than it did in the beginning of autumn. I feel like I've seen the light.

Notes:

• Title from "Stop" by Sam Brown
• Ben and Denise are really determined to have another child. They tried three times for a baby even though she's on birth control! I think I'll let them have a third kid since they're so eager. They'll have to wait a few years though.
• I had so many crashes while playing this household that I was ready to throw my computer through the window. But then suddenly everything started working again and I was able to finish the session. Apparently cursing helps!
• One household left and then I'm done with round 9!