Vacation expectations, third and final round

Alright, so the last two weeks I've been sharing the various hiccups that occurred on the "awesome" vacation we took last month and as of last week's story, I was still keeping my cool and hadn't completely flipped my lid.

Well, if anyone knows Type A personalities, that's hard to do when all your plans fall apart. Anyway, by mid-week of the vacation, I was still smiling and determined to have fun despite the random setbacks.

That was until the afternoon on the fourth day of the vacation when, once again we're at the beach, wondering if we should take a chance on the jellyfish or just avoid the water all together. We scanned the beaches and shallow water and saw no trace of purple bubbles (AKA Portuguese Man-O-War) so back in the water everyone went. I had decided to purchase the more expensive snorkel equipment for the kids since I assumed on an island, snorkeling would be a daily occurrence.

Thanks to the massive waves during this particular season, the equipment hadn't made it to their faces quite yet. However, this was the day they were gonna try it out and I was excited for them as they never had snorkeled.

While wading in the shore line, I looked back and saw my 8-year-old run to the beach bag and pull out her brand new snorkel gear. Just as I was turning and yelling for her to wait for me to help her since this wasn't the cheap dollar kind she's use to back home, I see her attempt put it over her head. The waves were crashing into the beach drowning out my yelling as I hurriedly tried to stop her. I knew she didn't know how to loosen the snorkel from the mask and right before I reached her ... SNAP! She broke her brand-new snorkel equipment before it even made an indent on her face.

As a result of her error, I snapped as well! I was so mad at her for not listening to me and trying to force this gear onto her head. I yelled a lot of insults and sent her off crying, like any frustrated mother would do and told she was done for the day.

I plopped down in my beach chair and mumbled a bunch of angry statements under my breath not caring about what the other beach goers around us thought at my outburst. I sat and pouted for about an hour and watched my careless 8-year-old kick around the shallow water while her bigger sister boogie boarded. When out of the blue, came another Man-O-War sighting. My 13-year-old spotted one in the waves coming up so I told them both to get out of the water.

Did they listen? No. Within a few seconds after my statement, guess who got stung ... AGAIN!

Are you kidding me?! The 8-year-old came flying up to me screaming that it got her again and cried, "Why does this keep happening to me?" In which I replied uncaringly, "Because you were in the water when I told you to get out!"

As mean as this sounds, I lost it. I felt bad for her and got her all taken care of ... again. But I had had it with all the issues. I flipped my lid, so to speak.

Hubby kept trying to calm me down saying he'd fix the snorkel gear and that she couldn't help the sting but I couldn't keep it together.

I stomped back to our beach house and spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and sweating in the humidity. I was mad that my family was still on the beach building sand castles while I was folding clothes and I was mad that I couldn't stop being mad. Here I was on an island for crying out loud, completely ticked off and feeling sorry for myself.

I decided that night, once I calmed down and acted like a normal, rational human being, that no matter what hiccup happened next, I was going to take it in stride. No more expectations and let the vacation happen!

The rest of the week was WAY more enjoyable and I definitely learned my lesson! Lower the expectations on my future vacations!