After a challenging first week of school this year, the boys and I were very excited to head back to Roi-Namur. It will be the first weekend the boys have been there for over 2 months, and the first time they will have seen my sweetheart since our vacation all together over a month ago. Another first in a long time is that my oldest did not fall asleep on the short 20 minute flight, even though he said he was tired and ready for a nap. Once we arrived, both children were practically bouncing off the walls from what I can only guess was a combination of excitement at being on Roi and with family and friends again and being a little over tired from the last three days of school. I admit, it’s been tougher than I thought to go back to work full time after being off for 10 weeks. I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but I can also see now how sometimes breaks can be too long because it makes it even harder for the children and teachers to get back into the groove of things after relaxing and having no set schedule for an entire summer.
As we entered the all too familiar “Transient Housing Quarters” we stay during our weekends on Roi, the musty smell of mold hits us. This is not unusual for the islands, mold that is, as it is always a very balmy 85-89 degrees, and it’s almost impossible to not encounter mold to a certain degree in all the facilities and quarters on the islands, even with air-conditioning. In fact, when I took the boys for their annual check-up at the hospital the other day, I asked the doctor if he had discovered a lot of common environmental type allergies in his short time here on island, and he told me the majority of allergies he had come into contact with were mold allergies, which was certainly not a surprise to me. At any rate, once we entered our familiar musty rooms, the boys promptly began wrestling on the beds and using their outside voices. Then, they began to whine about having to put on their shoes to go to the store, being so hungry they were on the brink of death, and just plain complaining. I guess my over tired theory was accurate. We moms do learn a thing or two about how our kids work and what makes them tick or stop ticking normally, so to speak, during those early years with them, although they mostly think we don’t know much about anything. Time to run off some of that over tired, nervous energy since it’s not quite bedtime yet.
One of the boys’ favorite activities on Roi is going to the snack bar where they have Shirley Temples or Roy Rogers along with all those yummy fried kids’ foods such as mozzarella sticks (an absolute must each time for my oldest son), cheese quesadillas or cheese pizza, and cheeseburgers or grilled cheese sandwiches. Nice and nutritious, right? Over the course of the weekend, we also plan to go snorkeling in the ocean and swimming in the pool, and maybe even see a movie at the open air covered theater. It may sound a bit low key or boring to some, but for me, it’s heaven. Getting to spend all day and night with my boys, reading and singing them to sleep, waking up to their smiles and laughter, and simply being all together as a family is why we love Roi, even with all the mold, the over tired whining, and the extra effort it takes to pack up our things, get on a plane, and hop on over to our neighboring island. After all, it’s our home away from home. Jiggety-Jog!
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