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So here's me: I can't wait for my vacation to begin. I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve - I'm just so excited I can't even sleep.

But then an entire day of traveling - we live in Seattle and are visiting family in Miami - started to deflate my enthusiasm.

No matter what, going that far on an airplane with two small children is going to test your patience. But I dealt with it - I mean, you don't move across the country away from your family and not know what it's like to spend 16 hours traveling.

We got to our rented condo, settled in, and went to sleep. It was about midnight when the kids turned in, 1 a.m. when John and I did. I heard the kids stir around 10 a.m., and around 11, I was ready to get out of bed.

But John wasn't.

I'm such a go-go-go person. I can't wake up and go back to sleep if it's daytime. I'm immediately thinking about what I'm going to do that day, both for fun and necessity. And I have no patience at all.

So I tried to wake John. I told him it was light out. I said the kids were hungry. I said we needed to hurry to meet my relatives (we didn't).

Within half an hour of waking up, I'd worked myself up into a total temper tantrum. "It's my vacation too! I want you to spend awake time with us!" I yelled.

John, who rarely raises his voice, pretty much ignored me. "Come on! I want to go to the beach! Kids, come jump on Daddy!"

And then something happened. I stopped, and took true stock of the situation. We had hours to do whatever we wanted - we weren't meeting my family until dinner. The kids were playing together, nicely. I didn't really have to do anything - I was just bored.

And I needed to let John rest a little more, so that we could enjoy the rest of our trip together. After a crazy work schedule and traveling for a long time, he needed more sleep than I did to be ready to relax and have fun.

So I took a deep breath and went downstairs to wait until he was ready.

Today, he's napping while I'm checking my email, blogging, and having some downtime between activities. I've got to respect that his vacation isn't the same ideal as my vacation. And if either of us are going to enjoy it, we're going to have to enjoy some of it alone, so that we can enjoy most of it together.

The kids and I will walk to get some ice cream in a few minutes, and then I'll check on John and see if he's ready to get up from his afternoon nap.

I'll even ask him whether he enjoyed it, and say I hope he feels refreshed now.

It's a struggle, but it's worth it. And maybe in the process of trying to accomodate him better, I'll chill out a little myself, too.