The New Face of Roadtrips

Road trips before kids required so much less thought and stops.  You left whenever, got food anytime and could control your bladder until the next rest stop.  Oh my how times have changed...

This weekend the kids, Tom and I went to Maine to visit family and to participate in a home-brew competition.  It's roughly a 3 hour drive.  On the drive there we only stopped twice, once to hit a drive thru and once at a rest stop to change Lincoln because he pooped his brains out requiring an epic wipe down and outfit change.  Even with the blow-out we managed to bang out the trip just over 3 hours. 

After a great weekend and a 4th place finish at the brew-off we headed home.  We headed out around eleven in the morning.  We realized that we would have to stop for lunch and so we did at the Kennebunk rest stop and a big shout out goes to the lady at Burger King for putting 2 toys in one kids meal!  We took the food to go to help the trip move along.  About an hour later we get the "I got to go potty, I got to go potty right now!" So we pull over onto the side of the road so Colby can pee because I fear we won't make it to the next exit.  As Colby finishes and I start to load him back up a state trooper pulls up. I explain to him that I had to tend to my son and that we were fine and he just reminds me to try to make it to the exit next time. Thank you officer, I'll remember that.  Then we get onto I-89 and Colby declares that he has to poop.  Great! We make it to an exit I'm familiar with and I rush him into the gas station and there is a line. My kid has issues pooping anyplace but home so the having to wait is not making things any easier. As I deal with the stress of having Colby poop and all that entails Tom is getting gas and changing Lincoln.   Tom and I were up to our elbows in parenthood so when we got back in the car and got moving was only when we realized we both had to pee. WTF. So, after being on the road for a good 10 minutes we stopped yet again so that he and I could both use the facilities.  This was our last stop before pulling into our house 16 hours later. No, not really but it seemed like it. Luckily we had dvr'd the Patriots game so we could watch it without commercials. Oh how road trips have changed.

Back In The Swing of Things

Well over in this house we are still trying to get into a back to school routine.  Luckily both my boys are loving pre-school so leaving them in no problem.  (Even when Lincoln cried a little the first couple of days I turned and got out of that classroom as fast as I could) The boys have opposite schedules so I never have alone time but I get to have some fun one on one interactions with them.  In the mornings Colby and I are able to run around town, grab snacks and have full in depth conversations from everything to how cows produce milk (no they are not pooping out milk) to favorite superheroes (Captain America because he has an awesome shield) to why Isis Kitty can't come to show and tell (one mad kitty). I am continually amazed by him.

In the afternoon Lincoln and I get some time together, however, this also coincides with his nap time.  Since school has started Lincoln has napped less than 20% of the time.  I usually leave him in his room to have quiet time so I can attempt to get some stuff done, but I have been known to let him come hang with me so we can play together.  We tend to do some epic playtime when it's just me and him.

No worries, every stuffed animal has had a proper check-up in this house!

And today, this hambone and I, went on mission to find all things that light up, glow, produce any type of light. Yeah, we were pretty successful.  As cute as he is I know that he should be sleeping.  We will work on that as we continue to get back into the swing of school!

7 Things that I took for granted before I had kids...

Katie R.

I used to be ridiculously annoyed before I had kids and people would tell me how “lucky” I was to have free time or how nice it would be to be single or how to take advantage of time with my husband before kids.  So this is not a recommendation by any means, there are just a few things I realized today as Joe worked and I took the kids to soccer, a local train festival and had to go in and help Wes when he was supposed to be sleeping and got a boot stuck on his foot.   So I’m just saying that if I had to do it again this is what I would take advantage of:

1.    Saturday Mornings:  I used to tell Joe my favorite part of the week was when I would wake up on Saturday mornings and lay in bed watching an old movie while Joe slept in.  Funny how children don’t realize it’s Saturday and even if they do they don’t seem to care.

2.   Going to the bathroom alone:  Yeah no matter how many times you say, I just need a minute in the bathroom there is someone knocking on the door and now that Wes can open doors forget about it.

3.   Sleeping off a hangover:  Ok, so a hangover is bad even when you don’t have kids.  And of course we could stop drinking, but we have 2 toddlers so having a few drinks with friends is vital at times.  However, before kids we could stay in bed, guzzle down some Gatorade and finally head to McDonalds around noon for some grease.  Now however, the kids  went to bed long before I decided to drink that last beer and so they are awake and ready to go bright and early.  And it is usually earlier than they normally get up and that morning they usually decide to play “band” (or something equally loud) and we are fortunate enough to have two drums so they can each have one. 

4.    A quick trip to the store:  Of course if Joe is home one of us can run quickly but if I’m alone with the kids there is no quick trip anywhere.  Between getting them dressed, in their car seats, out of car seats when Andrew forgets he has to go the bathroom, putting Wes’s shoes on at home and again after he takes them off in the car, we have now killed 15 minutes and we have yet to enter the store.

 

5.    Watching a grown-up movie:  So after watching the Lego Batman movie today 3 times, I realize that it has been a long time since I have watched an entire adult movie.  Now my kids go to bed early so I am able to watch movies in the evening but after I clean up the house and do a few nightly chores by the time we start a movie I’m asleep within 30 minutes.  And of course we could go to the theater when we get a sitter but to be honest we prefer to eat and drink.

 

6.     Going out-of-town for the night:  There was a time when we would quickly throw a toothbrush and some sweats into a bag and head to some friends house for the night.  Now a quick trip includes diapers, blankets, pillow pets, snacks and much, much more and really who invites us over for a night?

 

7.     A quiet weekend afternoon:  Remember relaxing on the couch and watching a football game or a reality TV marathon.  Yeah well those days are long gone.  This is a photo of our quiet Saturday afternoon pots and pans band.

 

Of course they won’t be little for long and even now some of these are changing and I will definitely miss it someday.  And I’m not necessarily complaining just saying that if I were on Meet the Robinsons, yes another kid’s movie that we have watched 15 times this week, I would go back in my time machine and tell myself to enjoy these few things that I would be missing for a few years.

Soccer Mom Wannabe

Katie R.

So last Saturday was Andrew's first day of soccer this season.  Joe was off work, the house was fairly clean because we were having guests all weekend and we were up in plenty of time to get ready.  Feeling ready to start the day I decided this was the day we would have it all together and I truly would be a soccer mom.

I took a shower, put on make-up and dressed in perfect soccer mom attire.  Because there was an Ohio State game that afternoon I dressed in a Ohio State cardigan (a cool one not a grandma one), a white button down shirt and skinny jeans.  And then I found the matching metallic loafer I had been missing all season and we walked out the door.  Because I was totally on top if it we even had time for me to stop for a coffee and we were registered and waiting for soccer to begin right on time.

And then the perfect soccer mom facade began to crumble.  First as I was standing watching Andrew I suddenly remembered why I didn't wear the shoes all last year... they give me blisters.  Then when I was talking with some other parents on another part of the field. I realized that everyone on Andrew's team was having a water break and his water was all the way across the field with Joe and Wes.  When I reached him he insisted he wasn't thirsty so I quickly said "ok" to avoid having to go get it.  Finally, as we reached the end of the hour I was ridiculously overdressed and was so hot, and I didn't want to take the cardigan off because I had a black tank under the white shirt and it looked ridiculous. 

So there I stood. sweating, blisters on my heels and no water bottle for my kid.  And the icing on the cake.. my phone was with Joe on the other end of the field so I took zero photos of Andrew.  Well I was an amazing soccer mom for 30 minutes, there is always next Saturday. 

A View From the Top

I've been enjoying posting photos of my childhood on Facebook for throwback Thursday. I have loved looking into my boxes of photos, reliving memories and choosing funny photos to post to the world.  It is also a constant reminder to keep up on the yearly scrapbooks I do for the boys because flipping through photos is so much more fun then looking at them on a computer. 

But on a more serious note, looking through my photos I found a handful of photos I took while on a family trip to New York  in July of 1990.  I was eleven years old.  It was my first visit and seeing the city, the skyline and all the wonder that New York City had to offer didn't disappoint. We visited the twin towers and went up to the observation floor to view the city. I pulled out my little camera and captured a few shots. It's an overwhelming feeling knowing my children can't see the same view I saw in 1990. It has been 12 years since the attack on America and although the wounds are no longer fresh they still hurt and burn more on this day.  As I kiss my boys goodnight I continue to be thankful I live in a country that supports, loves and never forgets.

view from the twin towers in 1990 with the other tower in view

Silly Employee

I'm a retail warrior; that is I work in retail.  Well, I did before I had the boys.  It's a thankless job that I enjoy and am good at.  I don't miss the long hours, working weekends and window displays but it was a fast-paced, ever-changing environment that kept me on my toes. 

I lead with this because I understand the position of a store employee when it comes to dealing with customers with kids. This past weekend Tom and I went to our local home improvement store with the boys to pick up a few things.  We arrived early, before ten o'clock, and to my shock all of the race car shopping carts were currently in use. No problem, Lincoln can ride in the cart and Colby can walk. After cruising through the garden area Colby hopped on the front of the cart to get a ride.  He remained like this for ten minutes while we where greeted by employees asking if we needed help with anything.  And then we past the appliance area....

A polite employee informed us that children shouldn't ride on the front of the carts. He mentioned policies and insurance issues for the reason so I had Colby hop down while I was looking at some merchandise. The employee then returned to the appliances to start up a conversation with some other shoppers. Alright, I get it, rules are rules, safety, blah, blah, blah. I've worked retail, I get it, no problem.  Luckily we were wrapping up our trip and we started heading towards the registers. Well, Colby wanted to get back on front so I let him.  We barely got moving before that same man, interrupting his conversation with potential appliance shoppers, yelled over to me that it wasn't safe. I smiled and informed him that  "I'd get right on that" as I walked by.  He continued to grumble as we went to the register, paid for our things, thanked the cashier as Colby maintained his post on the front of the shopping cart.

Colby demonstrating his ride on the front
of the cart in K-Mart the next day

Silly employee, I've been there! I really have. As a parent you need to pick the hills you are going to die on, the same is true for a retail employee.  I hope that I didn't ruin his day for him for not obeying the rules because he didn't ruin mine. 

Definitions and Interpretations

I love how the mind of a 4 1/2 year old works.  Lately Colby likes to tell me things and then define what he is talking about. For example the other day he said, "Mom, I'm starving and that means I need food in my belly right away!". Thank goodness for the clarification or I would have had no idea what he meant by being starving.  Today his little mind was working again..

 

 

One may think that sign means that the airport is straight ahead but to Colby it clearly described something else. "Mom, that sign is telling airplanes to fly higher so that they don't hit the bridge we just drove under!" Really, I can't argue with that explanation!