The Villain: A normally delightfully happy baby…
…who has a severe disdain for all things vehicular.
The Victims: The innocent parental units and The Sibling, who unfortunately is in the nearest proximity to the villain.
Luckily, however, The Sibling has superpower capabilities, making her impervious to the agonizing screams of protest.
The Mission: Beach. Breathe the destination. Visualize the destination.
The Reward: Getting to visit with our dear Aunt Kitty, Uncle Leo, and their Toenail Art.
The Time Elapse of Torture: 4-5 hours, depending on whether there will be maternal (shorter) or paternal (painfully longer) driving.
Expected Modes of Torture: Screaming, Whining, Non-Napping, Pulling of Sister’s Hair if it wanders into The Polygon, spitting out of the paci, and more spitting out of the paci.
Coping Mechanisms: Ear Plugs, Ear Phones, Heavy Medication (for Mommy – not Villain), Giant Servings of Chocolate, Riding on the roof (Again, for Mommy – not Villain…maybe), a soundproof glass box over The Polygon.
If I survive this mission, I can survive anything.
However, should I perish, please know that I loved you all dearly.
But he is such a cute villian! Hope the trip goes well.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished for one of those roll-up sound proof windows like they have in limos in the movies. :) Here’s hoping the villain has a change of heart.
Seriously. How are we supposed to parent without some sound-proofing every once and a while?? I’d like an optionally sound-proofed bedroom, as well. For those nights where you just HAVE to let them cry it out for a while.
The trip went shockingly well!! He was calm, cool, laid-back, and slept well for a couple of hours of it. I’m wondering if, for the sake of my sanity, Chris slipped him a bit of Benadryl. Nah…
Godspeed, my friend, Godspeed!
I’ve always envied those people whose children SLEEP in the car. Neither one of mine would. Praying your trip goes well!
They actually BOTH slept!! Your prayers are good stuff – maybe you should start praying for your kids to sleep in the car!
Noah fell asleep right after Montgomery, and stayed asleep until we got there – including the hour after we got off the interstate! It was a miracle! And I left it up to Ali as to whether she wanted to sleep or not, and at about 9:15pm, she said she was tired, and slept the rest of the way (until 10:30), too! Craziness.
Thanks for praying!
Run him around a lot – maybe he’ll fall asleep? Have a good trip!
If only he could run…that would help. Or oh – was I supposed to do the running?
He actually did amazing! I was totally shocked. Hopefully he’s not saving it all for the trip home…
Good luck with that…the beach will be well worth it! (Or at least you can chant that to yourself in an effort to drown out the screaming!)
Let him drive. Just think, in 15 years, he will be driving and you’ll be the one screaming in the back seat! Have fun!
There’s a pleasant thought…
;)
Good luck! Hope you all get to the beach with your sanity in tact. :) I think I could endure 4-5 hours of screaming if I could get to a warm beach…maybe. :) We have yet to start our summer. Spring is hanging on by it’s teeth. It’s 52 and windy today so enjoy that warm weather for us…and send a little our way!
Wow – it’s already been over 100 degrees here for several days in Birmingham and at the beach. “Warm Beach” is not something we have. We have “Melt-Your-Face-Off Beach.” I’d be glad to send you about 20 degrees – then it’d be 80 here and 70 there. Sounds perfect!
You’ll have to sit in the back, where he can see you…with your boob in his mouth.
I’d fear the trucker’s comments… with their horns…
Good luck! We attempted this Memorial Day weekend…the ride down…a wonderful 4 1/2 hour dream…the ride back when we were already exhausted?…a very terrible 7 hour nightmare. We were going to repeat the trip two weeks later. We cancelled. You will have better luck though…I’m sure of it!!!:)
I fear you’ve jinxed me. We had a shockingly awesome 4 1/2 hour trip down. Now I’m dreading our 7 hour trip back! Thanks a lot.
Car trips. Oh. How to strike fear into the heart of a mother. A recent memorably awful trip with Nine, Seven and Four was to be 1.5 hours but became 3 due to bad traffic. So. All we had was our tattered sense of humour, and a snack box. Oh. I resorted to the “Let’s make the people in the car next to ours in the traffic jam laugh” game. It did bring a few happy responses! The next time you see a car of crazies: it’s probably me and my tribe on a trip that’s grown to twice the length we expected!
I’m looking forward to hearing how yours went.
Oh yikes. Unexpected, unprepared for long car trips are ten times worse than the ones you have time to dread! But I like that game – we’ll definitely have to play that some time!!
Ours actually went surprisingly well! He shocked me by being laid back and cool for the first half, and actually sleeping the second half. I’m just hoping he’s not saving all his discontent for the way home.
Oh girl! I hope you’re pleasantly surprised!
Aw,you poor thing! I remember all my kids hated the car until they were a few months old, and then thankfully they outgrew their hatred. Hope you have a lovely time at the beach!