Vacations are a time to relax and rejuvenate, right? Maybe, but the pre-vacation period can be anything but.

Why, why, why do we try to accomplish so much in an already hectic time? My mother recalled a time when we were packing for a beach vacation, and she was frantically trying to sew a homemade swimming suit! Apparently the apple hasn’t fallen very far from the tree…

My family recently took a fall vacation to the beach, and my husband and I both had our own, multiple, versions of the homemade swimming suit. Here’s just a few of the things—some more practical than others—that we felt the need to cram into the few hours before our departure:

·         Cleaning the entire house (me)—This whole-house cleaning is something I haven’t done probably since our last vacation.

·         Washing every last bit of dirty laundry (me)—Isn’t it necessary to have an entire wardrobe to choose from when packing, even though there’s only room for a few outfits?

·         Balancing the bank account (me)—I’ll argue that this is practical, though not necessary to leave until the very last minute.

·         Changing the car’s oil (him)—Another rather practical endeavor, though one that didn’t need to be saved until the last minute.

·         Insulating the new French doors on our deck (him)—Completely impractical.

·         Cleaning out the garage (him)—Also ridiculously impractical.

·         Getting all new tires on the car (him)—Contemplated but not done, thankfully.

·         Last minute store runs (him)—Practical as we did need these few last-minute things, and his going meant that I didn’t have to.

·         Setting a Fantasy Football team (definitely him)—And definitely not necessary.

·         Polishing the stove (him)—Impractical as wiping it down was enough without pulling out the polish.

·         Vacuuming out both of our cars, even the one that stayed home (him)—Not necessary; doesn’t he realize how dirty the car will get from the road trip anyway?

·         Changing the car air filters (him)—Also contemplated but not done.

Our rationale is that we want to have a perfect trip and return to a perfectly clean house. But we literally drove ourselves crazy with these insatiable quests for perfection. We left for vacation in a state of chaos, remnants of which even lingered throughout our week away.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Is vacation even worth it? Ask me those questions after I’ve finished recovering from this one.