Timing is Everything

We spend our whole lives trying to figure out when the best time is to do anything and everything. When is the best time to start piano lessons, when is the best time to start dating, when is the best time to make a career change, when is the best time to have children….when is the best time to wash the dog?

We are overwhelmed with decisions; some simple, some more complicated. Either way, we stress over all of them and often in the time that it takes to make a decision our window of opportunity has passed.

So, when is the best time to pack up the kids and the dog and take off for a year?

The thought of spending a year of travel changing diapers and soothing a crying baby in the middle a museum is not very appealing and the thought of exiting a wonderful restaurant  to deal with a feisty toddler makes me cringe. On the other hand, I am not interested in suffering through the heavy sighs and rolling eyes of a teenager as we do family activities either.

We do want the Lil’ Dude to be reading and writing proficiently before the trip so that he can maintain a journal and felt that the groundwork for reading and writing would best be left up to the professionals. When we met with his teacher the other day, she said that he loves reading and the one activity that he is most passionate about is writing stories. It sounds to me like he is ready for the road.

We do want the Big Dude to still enjoy being with his family. He is now eleven, a “tween”, and yes, I am starting to hear a little “‘tude”.  But, just a little and it is still manageable. But, we had better go soon as he will be on the cusp of the full eye rolling stage before we finish the trip.

What we want most is for our children is to be excited about the trip, be able to remember it for a lifetime and truly enjoy exploring some of the world with us before their grown and gone. That time appears to be now.

Of course, the timing we chose is a guess, a gamble and only time will tell if we made the best choice. But, at some point, one has to decide something or the window of opportunity will close and then who cares about the timing.

As for the dog, when her coat turns from white to grey and she begins to smell like last weeks garbage, we break out the shampoo.

“Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor” Hesiod