How Not to do a Road Trip with Toddlers

-
I am fresh off a wonderful trip to Maine.  More on how full my heart is later.  For now, let's just quickly recap how awful a 9 hour car ride can go, even when you plan everything right.

For the record Jerry was nervous about the drive.  I naively assumed all would go well.

Since it was a 9+ hour drive we wanted to maximize the kids' sleep/nap time.  Sooooo, Jerry and I woke up at 2:30 am.  The car was packed so we scooped up last minute things and attempted to transfer the kids peacefully.

That damn milk cup.
The kids were so excited that they got up and stayed up.  They wanted to know when we were "at Maine."  John chugged a milk cup about 4 hours too early, but who cares, right?

Well, apparently we should have.  He puked it all up within the first hour of the car ride.  That's right, milk puke on him and the car seat.

We cleaned up as best as we could in the dark, at 4am, off an exit ramp with no stores open.

After 7 hours of torrential downpour and a sour milk odor we arrived in beatiful, fresh-aired, clean Maine.  Well, outside the car was clean - the inside needed a power-wash (that's literal - we hosed it down).

We made it through (Lucy is especially a champ).  We learned yet again that even if you plan and prepare well, there is no way to be totally ready for anything in your way (when travelling with two toddlers).
Peace.


Tomorrow I'll share some about our trip - more importantly I'll share the new perspective I garnered.




Location: Sinclair, ME, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mom...The Potty Flipped Over

-
Image
Just when you think you've got it all together.... Your son comes to tell you that there is poop on the floor.  So even though he's been potty trained for a nearly a year and ASKS for privacy when he goes, there are still mishaps.  Like, well this: He was such an easy kid to potty train...a few skittles here, a few there and BAM, bye bye diapers.  Yet, he has his quirks.  For instance, I am not sure why his own private potty ended up getting flipped over, but I do know that he was in there building a fortress with toilet paper.  It's what he does - I don't know, I tend to think it's creative and not destructive. I think my mistake was loading up the shelf with fresh new rolls (I did that at 7am).  It was all just too exciting for him. And so even though this was the first day in history that both children slept until 8am allowing me to deep clean the bathroom (again at 7am) I was right back at it at 11am. Please remind me of this as I have a full-blow
Read more

Read Number 6.

-
Image
A few years ago I heard the phrase "self-care".  In fact, it was a doctor who looked me square in the face and asked me "what do you do for self-care?" I had (no joke) NEVER heard this phrase before.  NEVER.  It must have shown on my face, but she didn't even flinch and went on to ask what I did for myself.  Like without guilt to take care of myself.  I thought for a minute and listed off things like sleeping in once a week, morning showers, taking the long way home from work while listening to murder podcasts (the usual??) These apparently are not things that count as self-care.  (I mean I guess they are a little bit, but she wanted to examples of what I was doing to better my self-worth and happiness).  Even now that school started, I can't think of much -- actually,  sometimes I leave work early and eat my yogurt in my car and listen to my murder podcast for an extra 15 minutes. I find that recently there has even been a push for self-care in the
Read more

Guest Post - They Won't Get It, They'll Think I'm an Awful Mom

-
Image
Guest Post:  Alicia is a friend from high school who is a full-time working mom of one adorable boy, Cooper.  She's also building a make-up empire and blowing up Facebook with wildly entertaining videos and tutorials.  She makes everything look easy, which is why this blog is just that much more important.  Thanks for sharing Alicia. I was asked to write something MONTHS ago, and I promise, the commitment to put my thoughts on paper has never left my mind.  I’m embarrassed it took me this long.  But to be honest, I couldn’t get myself to write down my story, because if I did, it would somehow make my failures more real.  (Sure, I know we’re always the hardest on ourselves, and I know I’m not a failure, but the thoughts, “could I have done better…can I DO better?” constantly run through my mind.) Let me step back for a second.  It took my husband and I well over a year to get pregnant with Cooper.  Two heartbreaking miscarriages, low progesterone and a blood-clotting diso
Read more