Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Home Sweet Home

We just had one of those weekends away that makes you want to never leave home again.

We are homebodies. We like our home. We like our routine. Especially since we had Miss A. I have major anxiety when we travel. Mostly about, the sleeping. But also about the having to follow her around everywhere because she doesn't ever stop finding everything that she is not supposed to touch/eat/break. Because generally, it's all very exhausting.

We decided to make a trip to see Grandma this weekend. It was a short trip because both Peter and I worked at church on Sunday morning. While nearing the end of the two hour drive I realized that we would be back on the road again in less than 24 hours. It seemed like an awful lot of work for so little time there...

Miss A was in fine form discovering Halloween candy, dumping out a pail full of tiny toys/marbles/spare change etc. and then submerging one of the cat's food dishes in his container of water.

It was at that point that we bundled up and went outside. My mother in law reminded us that it was blustery out and I called back that it was okay, we needed to run some energy off. There is an entire acre of yard to play in. You would think that would be plenty of room. Apparently not, she would wander to the edges of the property and decide she wanted to go into the neighbors yards. I would tell her that we couldn't and she would have a screaming fit. This happened several times. I was so certain that going outside would be less frustrating than being inside. Wrong again.

It seemed like we had very little time to visit and then it was bedtime for A. I was dreading this part... We basically lay on the 'big bed' until she was ready to go to her own bed. (At home we simply rock together in her room for a bit, then ready or not, it's bedtime. And since she can't climb out of her bed at home...) After about an hour she finally went to bed.

Peter suggested we go to bed too but like an idiot I wanted to stay up for a while. I needed some adult time. Plus, his mom has way more channels than we do. When we climbed into bed shortly after 1 am I was confident that Miss A would sleep as late as she usually does. Imagine my surprise when I heard her crying at 4 am! But surely I could get her back to bed. Right?

Unfortunately, not. We tried rocking, then laying together on a big bed. Finally she just stood up and with baby and blanket in hand she headed downstairs at about 5:30. I will say that there is a really good lineup on the kids channel at that time. I was aiming to last until 8 and then switch off with Peter so I could get another hour or so of sleep.

At 7:50 bad became worse. Miss A stood up from lying on the floor and projectile vomited all over Grandma's rug. I rushed to her side and we both looked at each other in shock. Then I called Peter for help.

To sum up. I didn't go back to bed. A was sick several more times until she finally crashed out on the couch for a couple of hours. She bounced back quickly, we had lunch and got back on the road.

We all went to bed early and things seem to be back to normal now. Hurray! Did I mention I'm a homebody?

3 comments:

bonrhe said...

yeah... you know you are a mama when you actually HOLD STILL while your kid pukes all down your cleavage because it minimizes the mess. Imagine a day when she can yak in the toilet or a bucket. That day WILL come. I have seen it happen and the phrase is my mantra for my two younger.

Anonymous said...

When Ella is about to spew, she grabs my hand so I can catch it.

Sugarmama said...

Ha! What your first commenter said. I vividly remember when my then 1-1/2 year old daughter hurled an ENORMOUS quantity of barf down the front of my nightgown one night. My first instinct was to thrust her away and yell, "Yuck!" But instead I hugged her close and tried to calm her hysteria.

Stomach viruses suck. Travelling with a toddler sucks. Sleep issues suck. It's not wonder you're a homebody. I am, too!