Last week, I shipped my 4-year-old daughter off to my parent's house for seven full days. She went very enthusiastically, knowing full well that Grandma's house offers endless sweets, undivided attention, gifts galore, and even a pool. During her week away from me, she swam almost every day, played with 20 baby goats at the local petting zoo, saw a baby calf being born at a nearby dairy farm (she was more impressed with the farm store's ice cream selection), ate more junk than my mom will ever admit to me, and built her own $72 Elsa bear, complete with bubblegum scent and singing capabilities. Safe to say, she had a fantastic time.

My week taking care of just one child, my 17-month-old son, was equally exciting, in theory at least. My husband and I eagerly anticipated restaurants we didn't dare attempt with two kids, movies we'd watch now that our 4-year-old wouldn't be dominating the TV, naps we'd obviously have time to take. And I can't tell you how many of my mom friends were bubbling over with envy at the thought of me having just one little one to cater to. It all sounded so easy and great, and in some ways, it was. But, as so often has been the case since I became a mom, I soon learned that my expectations didn't align with reality. Here are the big things I learned from my week "off."

1. One kid is still a lot of work. I always refer to my little guy as my easy child, and compared to his wild, opinionated sister, he probably is, but he's also in the "into everything" stage, wants to eat constantly, is just getting his last molar, and could have cared less that this was supposed to be my week to relax. The first day his sister was gone, he woke up almost two hours earlier than usual, refused to nap, and got a terrible diaper rash. Take that, Mom.
2. But cleaning up after one kid is a breeze. The one way my life felt a lot easier with one child? Cleanup, or the comparative lack thereof. My daughter can destroy a room in 10 seconds flat, but my son is pretty content to play with just a few toys. Mealtime was a lot less stressful, feeding just one kid who really only wants to consume meatballs and milk. And seriously, how does one little girl double our household's laundry? Oh wait, by changing at least seven times a day.
3. My older child really entertains my youngest. I always knew my kids liked being together, but I didn't realize how much they entertained each other. With his big sister gone, my son was now looking to me as his only source of fun, which meant that I was forced to get down and wrestle, color, and play ball a lot more than usual. It was fun at first, but getting body slammed by a 30-pound bowling ball of a kid lost its luster pretty quickly.
4. Little kids are more fun than little toddlers. I've admitted it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a baby person [1]. And as pathetic as it might sound, my 4-year-old is kind of my best friend. We chat constantly and decide on our daily schedules together. There's a back-and-forth with her that I just can't get with my son, whose vocabulary consists of about 10 words. I missed having my little sidekick around to talk to, and I felt a little lonely without her.
5. My independent little girl still needs her mama. I don't know why this one surprised me. Of course, I know my daughter loves me, her dad, and her brother, but she's so independent, strong-willed, and up for any adventure that I didn't think she would really miss us during her week away, at least not in a way that a couple of daily FaceTime sessions wouldn't make up for. But my mom told me the last two days of her trip, my little lady was carrying around a wedding picture of her dad and me everywhere. I asked her why when I picked her up. "Because I missed you, Mom," she said. "I was ready to come home." And, you know what, I was really ready to have her back . . . even though she threw her first temper tantrum 10 minutes after I picked her up, even though I knew she was going to double my laundry load and make my life just a little harder. A week with one less kid might sound like a vacation, but these days, my best vacations always include her.