This month I was the ‘Rodriguez’. In Spain the statement carries a mix of humor, resignation, and a tiny wink of freedom. It’s the classic situation where someone stays behind working while the rest of the family goes on vacation. After taking the kids to the Netherlands, I brought them to their mother for some weeks at the beach in Torrevieja. After a weekend I returned home to fulfill my obligations, and so I ended up de Rodriguez.

As the Rodriguez, there’s the routine of going to work every day. After that, it’s keeping the house in order, cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, drying, folding and storing, tidying up, take care of the pets and everything else that comes along. Ana even tried to give me an extra task: painting the entire house. Fortunately, I managed to diplomatically avoid that one. And if I do happen to find a bit of scarce free time, it usually goes into cleaning the car, dusting the shelves, reorganizing the kids’ toys, cleaning the windows, and so on.

With all these tasks, it’s unlikely I’ll have any time left for myself, but if it does happen, I might still squeeze in a bit of enjoyment: a movie, a series, some music, playing around with my laptop, some exercise, a walk in the woods, working on my game, experimenting with my blog, an outing with the guys, a bit of shopping, building a LEGO set… The small freedoms of a Rodriguez, hidden between the responsibilities.

Today was the final of the World Cup: Spain versus Argentina. Football normally doesn’t interest me much, but still I found myself on the couch, watching the screen with a beer in hand.

And honestly: it was a pretty fascinating match. Spain won 1–0, but it could easily have been 15–0. They spent almost the entire game on Argentina’s side of the field — passing, edging closer to the goal, every attack a small chance. You could see the frustration building in the Argentinians; the game became more physical, until a red card send one of the Argentinos home. Only in extra time did the ball finally fall right, and then it was over quickly. There was some pushing and complaining and Trump popped up on screen for a moment, and that was the whole story.

I watched alone at home. I have to work again tomorrow, so after the final whistle I headed to bed. For Ana and the kids it was a completely different story: the celebration exploded there. After the victory they walked to the beach with a big group of children, celebrating, laughing, jumping into the water for a moment. A spontaneous summer evening celebration you only get when everyone is swept up in the same wave of euphoria.

Once a year I try to unwind a bit in the Netherlands. The kids already know exactly what we usually do. Hanging around at home with grandma Nel. Playing Settlers of Catan (with our own rules). Visiting family and friends, and mostly just relaxing and getting a small taste of what my life used to be like. The lake, the beach, the village, a trip to Leiden, and not much more.

Ana prefers a different kind of holiday, where activities and experiences follow each other at high speed. I’m increasingly choosing convenience. Getting an ice cream. Finding a geocache in the town. A little trip to buy some eel. A walk along the beach with a kroket to finish it off. Wonderful.

Still, I try to plan one fun activity every year. Mudflat hiking, Volendam, Efteling, Rotterdam. This year I want to take a trip to Limburg. The province where my godparents lived, and where I spent many holidays myself. Visiting the Three‑Country Point, descending into a cave, and enjoying a good slice of vlaai. This year we’ll see. I ended up cancelling the trip to Limburg because the family in the Netherlands described the situation as ‘scorchingly hot’, and that’s not the best moment to go to Limburg.