Serenity Now: Inbound, Outbound, Campbound

Forget about CRM, sales pipelines and even cake pops. Let's talk summer. You know - our children's vacation - the one that lasts about three months. The one us working parents strive to fill with fun while keeping one foot in the office door.

Since staying home watching your mom work isn't the coolest way for an eight-year old to spend his summer, we sprung for a 12-day summer camp. Six hours away. This marketing mom gets time to work, kid gets to run wild in the woods. Sounds like a plan!

So it's Saturday, drop-off day. We're up at 5, camp-bound, and kid is thrilled. After an uneventful drive from Dayton, Oh. to North Carolina, we arrive at the camp. Kid is jumping up and down with excitement. Mom and Dad are ready to head home. Then it happens. 

The Sting.

Out of nowhere, a giant insect swoops down, taking aim at my son's arm. It makes contact, kid screams, and suddenly drop-off has gone south. It doesn't stop there. Here's a quick list of everything else that went wrong as we fought our way home:

1. The Sting. I know I mentioned that but I want to be thorough.
2. The gravel. When trying to exit camp, our car gets stuck on a pile of gravel. While trying to dislodge, husband leans on the horn. Camp stares.
3. The bully. While halfway down the mountain, we're nearly driven off the road by another parent in a gleaming Cadillac Escalade.
4. The traffic. 75-N becomes a parking lot about 60 miles from the NC border. It stays that way.
5. Something to look forward to. Dog sitter texts - dog has become ill all over the house. Code brown.
6. The let down. We arrive home, scrub the rugs, give up and throw the rugs outside, and finally settle down. House is quiet, kid is at camp. We get sad.

So that's about it. The sadness didn't last long and now I have a whole week to devote my time, guilt-free, to HubSpot and workflows and email campaigns. Kid is gone 8 more days (but who's counting?). I've sent four letters and had a couple of sleepless nights - but it's all worth it, isn't it? Here's to a better pick-up.

How do you balance work, parenting and summer?