Turns out that a relatively newly mobile toddler + eight hours in the car = another toasty level of HELL.
We made it to NOVA yesterday, but only after wearing deep grooves in all our Raffi CDs, courting carsickness by reading every board book we brought about seven times, and weaving this concept-album-length tale about the adventures of a bear, Elmo, and Baby Beluga. She would NOT let us drop the thread on that one. After the bear ate everything in sight, Elmo was good for some laughs, and then Baby Beluga put in a mystical, earth-goddessy spin on a communal trip to the dentist. We'd stop to catch our breath or cast about for another hook and the screaming instantly rattled cups at the nearest truck stop. It finally devolved into a tale of a failed potty-training bacchanalia, with the two of us bellowing "POOPY!" in concert while she half giggled, half sobbed.
We got here and I headed straight for the ibuprofen. I kind of thought the trip sucked before, but now...*shudders*
It's all going to be worth it, though. Mr. Milkweed and I leave tomorrow for a wedding in San Francisco, which just happens to coincide with our sixth wedding anniversary. I've never been farther west than Kansas and since the in-laws are staying in VA with the bean, it'll be the longest chunk of time I've ever been away from Eva.
Sure, there's that crazy turnaround coming up where we fly back to VA and then drive all the way back to the midwest almost instantaneously, but who could focus on that right now? I've got a quiet hotel bed, free HBO, and the run of one of America's greatest cities for three full days in between then and now. An eight hour flight each way = eight hours of uninterrupted reading time.
HEAVEN. SHEER HEAVEN.
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In other news, do continue to keep your fingers crossed for Mr. M, though, won't you? He's at an interview right now even as I type, and he squeezed in the other one between landing back in D.C. and driving back to OH. He looked so handsome when he left. I think I'm going to sit on the couch and send him good vibes while Eva naps and I watch trashy television.
2 comments:
oh, you're giving me flashbacks to our roadtrips from houston to d-ville. 20 hours of torture, and always with a newly-mobile toddler--it's just not an extreme-parenting roadtrip without one of those. it should actually be considered a sport to travel with young children--i've never sweated more or been more tired than after a car or plane trip with my kids. :D
1. Good luck Mr. Milkweed!
2. Have a bowl of clam chowder and some sour dough bread for me!
3. The portable DVD player is the mother's best friend on a road trip with a toddler. We splurged on one a few years ago before our first road trip with Maggie. Best $120 I think I have ever spent. And almost 3 years later it is still saving my sanity on road trips.
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