On Friday night my husband, two sons, and I traveled for 4 hours in what is to me a luxurious company car but even with the wider seats the two boys still smacked each other the whole trip. As there was no hope of them falling asleep en route, I broke down and let them watch a DVD on my laptop. Along with the comfort of the car, we also stayed 2 nights in a condo. This was a big change for us as normally we would have camped in a tent. Separate rooms, cable TV, a fireplace - what a great way to start a vacation! And the boys were well behaved. The purpose of the trip was to check out the Adventure Park at Jiminy Peak which was a blast. Kid tested, mother approved, and it will be coming to Cranmore soon!
Then we got back in the car to go to my parents house Sunday morning. Again with the constant hitting. And along scenic Route 2 in Western Massachusetts. I tried telling them the history of the Mohawk Trail but sadly they didn’t care. At least when we arrived at my parent’s they were good for the whole hour we were there. Yes, just an hour. After my last visit when I was told at 8am to quiet the boys down or leave, I’m not taking any chances. I can respect that while my parents are happy I have kids, they don’t necessarily want them in their house. Which is made quite clear by the knives and tools left out in the kitchen at every visit, and a rifle I found under the bed in the guest room.
For the next leg of the trip my husband and I parted and I met up with his daughter who drove from North Conway in my Jetta 4-door sedan. It’s a wonder neither of the boys has a black eye from punching each other. This was a 7 hour ride to my aunt’s house in Washington, DC. I pride myself on being economical, efficient, and green, but I guess I’m a little unrealistic. My car is way too small for a family of four going anywhere. I started to have dreams of a caravan with a third row seat. But we may not need it for a while since I don’t think we’ll be invited back anywhere.
Now, I should have known better about visiting my aunt with the boys given the situation with my parents. “Silly Mommy,” as my 3-year-old likes to say. My aunt is my father’s older sister. But she looks younger and sounded thrilled that we were coming. Of course that was my take after a late night call and not a more telling early morning wake up call. It’s hard to visit with someone when they sleep until 1pm and your 3 and 6 year old are running around at 7am. And with her giant dog who almost bit me on my last visit. Fortunately there were no incidents with the dog but my older son set the house alarm off once. The other major faux pas was going out to dinner at 8pm, the boys’ bedtime. Now come on, what is so bad about a 3 year old standing up on the bench in a restaurant and taking his shirt off? At least he wasn’t on top of the table! My aunt, like my father would have been if he had seen it, was horrified. “You need to discipline that boy!” I would have had to take him out of the restaurant but didn’t want to risk the scene or getting kicked and scratched by him in the struggle. So I went the “distract by tickling” route to buy some time and eventually we made it out.
The poor kid didn’t have a good night’s sleep all week, which made him a total wreck sightseeing. I had to carry him all over the National Mall in DC and drag him through the Smithsonian’s museums. But it was worth it! I’ve been to DC almost every year for the past 30 and I just can’t get enough. This year I started with the National Gallery of Art and both boys seemed to like it. And then of course we went to the Museum of Natural History and The Air and Space Museum. And the gift shops.
We also stopped for a night at my college roommate’s home in New Jersey on the way back and had a grand time. She insisted they didn’t even mind my 3 year old’s meltdown at 11pm when I wanted to turn the light off. On an unrelated note, I learned from their son that it’s illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. All this time I thought it was the state’s way of welcoming travelers.
It was just after we crossed the Vermont border on the way home that the boys were actually playing together peacefully. My step-daughter and I had our first trip zen moment. And I decided I could live with the Jetta a little longer.
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