10:30am-ish. Kids strapped in. We are packed. We have a long trip ahead. Nine hours or more. I wonder how the one-year-old princess will do. She's been cranky and demanding rather than sleeping the last two legs of our travels. She has a new co-pilot. That'll work great until co-pilot doesn't want the job anymore. What do you do for hours on end with someone who just needs to sleep? Some have gone down the benedryl trail. I'm not opposed except I haven't done the sleepy or hyper test-drive. Plus, how much do I give. So, we'll have to figure something else out to entertain or capture sleep.
Stop at mall for Chick-fil-a lunch. Hudson traded in his book for a toddler book for Emma
Emma took a twenty minute nap. Not nearly as long as she needed.
Stop at McDonald's for leg stretch and diaper change. Very scary diaper. No wonder she was so mad.
Autumn worked hard at keeping Emma entertained. Coloring. Reading books. Making hehe laugh.
When everything was quiet and happy, and I wondered why we couldn't do more trips like this. (It didn't take long to be snapped back into reality.)
Stop at Applebee's for dinner.
I don't think I have heard "Mom" and "No" so many times. At one point, I was trying to convince Emma to say any other words. Any. Alas, she stuck to her guns. I think I might still hear it in my sleep tonight.
Stop for gas.
Stop for Horne's for one more potty break.
The tough part was the last half hour before we arrived home. Emma was trying to sleep but really wanted to be in a bed. So she went back and forth between angry crying and sleep. There is no way to be sane when a child is crying like that. Everyone wants it to stop but no one has the magic power to make it stop. I can feel all eyes looking to me to do the whatever-it-is-mom-is-supposed-to-do magic--I am the mom, right? I'm feeling just as helpless having pulled out all my best tricks. Only a bed will make it better.
When I finally laid her in bed, she smiled behind her favorite may-may (pacifier). Peace for everyone. I'm so glad we made it. 10:30pm
By the way, the boys were on the road too. They were happy campers most of the way. All I had to do was toss some food in the back a couple of times. They got some DVD time too. Hudson was a hero for letting Emma use his favorite blanket even though he would have used it.
