A Mom Admits She Left Her Family Vacation 5 Days Early & People Have *Thoughts*

Most moms have at least felt the way that Kelly Hubbell felt on her last family vacation. Things weren’t going great, everything was chaos, her in-laws were there, and all she wanted to do was go home.

The difference here is that she actually did. The business owner and mom of three was visiting her husband’s family’s lake house earlier this month and decided she’d had enough. So she packed up and left.

“Every summer, we head to my husband’s family’s lake house for a few weeks,” Hubbell wrote on a viral Instagram post. “It’s beautiful. It’s nostalgic. It’s full of people we love. ❤️ And every year, I try to show up with a smile and make it work, not because we don’t love being there, but because it’s a lot to juggle.”

But this year, it just wasn’t working.

“Traveling with three young kids (5 hour flight, 2 hour drive, and a ferry lol) is no joke. 🫣But this year? I was sick,” she continued. “Our youngest learned to crawl out of the pack + play. We were away from our usual routines. And after a 6-hour BBQ with three kids under six running in three different directions (in an extremely water safety hazard environment), I hit my limit. 🚨So we left. (On day 12 mind you). Five days early. No apology. No regret.”

But even though she had no regrets doesn’t mean there weren’t consequences.

“Was the family surprised? Yup. Did people talk? For sure. (And they still are talking 🫣),” she continued. “Was my husband bummed? Yeah. But I’ve learned something important: Despite what mom guilt propaganda might tell you, you ARE allowed to protect your peace. 👏 (News flash: you don’t even get a medal for being the “easygoing” one.) Because when you’re running on empty, everyone loses. The meltdowns get bigger. The joy feels harder to find. The default parent (read: YOU) ends up carrying it all.”

She finished up her post by stressing that if the default parent isn’t cared for, she gets to pull the plug.

You’re allowed to say: ‘This isn’t working.’ ‘I need support.’ ‘We’re going home.’ The only way your family thrives is when you do,” she wrote. “When you are rested. When you are supported. When you have a system that actually works. 🫶”

As you might imagine, people had some very, very strong feelings in the comments.

Many were very critical and negative.

“You would never let your husband pull this stunt if it was your parents lake house,” one of the most popular comments read.

“Cannot imagine my wife embarrassing me by leaving a family trip early and then seeing her post a book about it acting like it’s acceptable behavior,” a man wrote.

“I probably would have just said ‘all right, your turn’ to my husband and then locked myself in a bedroom and read an entire book,” one mom added.

“Narcissistic moms ruining vacations annually,” another said.

“You’re the problem,” another said simply.

On the flip side, some were supportive (spoiler alert: it was other moms).

“1. Your in-laws suck for not helping you with the kids,” one person wrote. “2. Your husband sucks more for not helping you with the kids but that’s not surprising seeing how he was raised by said unhelpful in-laws3. 17 days? Stuck in a house that isn’t your own? What kind of escape-room-meets-Saw is that? Bless you for even trying AND for staying as long as you did!”

“The difference in comments from men and women on this post tells you everything you need to know,” another person wrote. “Men still wish they married their silent suffering moms and pissed when that are held accountable to be being an equal parent.”

“And I hate that in these crazy stressful circumstances the mom is the one who gets blamed for being the killjoy, literally no one else,” another person wrote. “No one steps in to lighten the load. Not a single person.”

Personally, I’m still trying to get past the 17 days spent with in-laws — that is a lot! And it would likely be impossible without sufficient support from the kids’ dad and other relatives.