Lessons from Tennessee
Having returned from another trip, it is time for another episode of "Lessons from..." Today's lessons come from lovely, but sweltering, Tennessee.
1. I should have believed everyone who said traveling with a baby is easier. Yes, it's hard to travel with a lump who needs all of your time. But, those lumps sleep most of the trip and have no concept of being in a car seat. In fact, they probably feel all snuggled up in the seat and don't care that it's not your lap. As long as you slap some food in when they are hungry and change a diaper here and there, you are good to go. Toddlers, on the other hand, need entertaining. They want out. They will scream at you when they don't get what they want. They will refuse to nap even though they are tired. Yup. Traveling with a baby was so much easier. Wish I had listened to "them."
2. Trips/vacations aren't nearly as much fun with a clingy, needy child who only wants me. Here we were, with literally dozens of people, adults and children alike, dying for the chance to hug and entertain my child, but all she would do is scream bloody murder whenever I put her down, let alone left eyesight. Even her daddy is chopped liver these days. Back before we had kids, when my sister-in-law told me having kids would mean I would never get to use the bathroom alone again, I never dreamed it would mean holding my child on my lap and reading her a story while I went about my business. I know that someday I will yearn for my child to want me as much as she does now, but that doesn't stop me from being frustrated that I can't get a single moment to myself or even get simple chores done.
3. iPads are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Between downloading episodes of Phineas & Ferb for my child to watch, cute Fisher Price Apps she can play with, books she can flip through, and the general ability to open mommy's apps and flip the screen around, it kept her occupied when nothing else would work. I know I said I would never be one of "those" parents who let their child under 2 watch television, let alone let said child play with my telephone or iPad, but that was before I knew how wonderful it was to have a way to stop my child from shrieking during an hour-long traffic back-up because part of I-75 has slid down the side of a mountain.
4. Never assume that I know what my child likes. My child loves to play in the tub. Loves it so much she will squeal if we take her from the tub before she is done. So, imagine my surprise that she does not like splashing in a pool, a river, or a water park. Nothing like dropping beaucoup bucks to go to Dollywood Splash Country only to spend most of the day sitting under the canopy waiting to see what other people had fun doing. At least we had the canopy!
5. My daughter is a flirt. On our third attempt to take Lil' Bit into the kiddie pool for a little dip, she spotted a chubby 9-month-old little boy. Suddenly, she was willing to not only stand in the water, but walk over to him and smile and grin and burble nonsense. She waved and blew kisses and was positively, disgustingly cute. All for a little boy. Once we left his range, however, it was time to leave. She was having no more of that water stuff, thank you very much. *sigh* It's going to be a long 18 years.
6. Cousins are great. The few times Lil' Bit deigned to leave me, she was playing with her older cousins, aged 6, 8 and 9. They managed to help her learn to walk up and down stairs using the handrail. Although she's not perfect, she's way closer to being able to navigate stairs on her own in the upright position, not just crawling. When did she get so big?! *sniffle* But, my point is, these were things I had tried to do with her, but she was unwilling to learn. However, when it was her cousins, it was different, and she was more than willing to do it for them. More proof, if I need it, that I need a village to raise my child.
7. Don't get attached to clothing. For the short period that I did manage to get Lil' Bit into the river for some play time, she managed to lose a flip-flop which was quickly caught by the current and rushed away long before I even realized it was gone. Bye-bye ladybug flip-flop. Now I must find a way to remove the other beloved shoe from my daughter's foot and make it disappear so that she forgets she ever owned them.
8. I have to relinquish control of some of Lil' Bit's clothing choices. We inherited a cute little Dora the Explorer sundress (size 3T which currently FITS, but that's for another post). The moment Lil' Bit saw it, she was over the moon. Apparently they watch Dora at daycare. Whenever she sees the dress, picks it up and holds it out and pulls at the clothes she is wearing to let me know she wants to be changed into the dress. If it is in the laundry bin, she will pull it out. She doesn't care that it's dirty. Dirty has no meaning to her. She just wants Dora. Other times, she'll see what I have selected and fight me or yell "no" when I try to dress her. She wants something else. Most days, she still goes with the flow, but I can see the writing on the wall. I may get to buy the clothes, but she's going to be picking what she wears from here on out.
9. Clean up on aisle 5. My daughter will not let me hold the cereal bowl for her. She will shriek at me because she can do it herself. But, when she dumps it all in her lap, she will just as quickly shriek at me to clean it up because it is cold and wet. Thank goodness my parents have a dog that will Hoover the carpet of things like corn and hamburger.
10. I can do this. Ever since Lil' Bit got placed on her meds, we haven't done much traveling. We did some at Christmas and we went to Chicago for the wedding, but otherwise we have been homebodies. I have recognized that part of it is that I hate having to try and pack everything we'll need and worry about being gone over med-time. However, I have taken more outings during the weekends and have been getting more comfortable with figuring out how to do things with Lil' Bit's needs. This trip, we traveled from Michigan to Indiana, to Tennessee, to another place in Tennessee, back to Indiana, and back to Michigan over the course of a week. We got Lil' Bit properly and timely medicated every day, got her to eat fairly well, sometimes even nutritiously, didn't break her sleep schedule too much, and even had some enjoyable moments with both our families. Although there were some rough patches, we returned home with 30 fingers and 30 toes still attached. That's a win in this house.
As always, it will take several weeks to recover from our "vacation," but it was great to see so much of the family and get to introduce Lil' Bit to many of them for the first time. It's great to be home, but this trip certainly helped me be less anxious about our next week-long trip--a trip which will likely require me to pack meds of my own :) But that's also for another time.