It Takes a Week

I spent much of last week preparing to go out of town to visit grandparents for the weekend. With each new child added, not only does the prep time increase, but also the brainpower expended. There should be some mathematical calculation to figure out how much prep time is required for a trip of this many days with this many children of such and such ages. I make lists to survive: a list of things to do before we leave, a list of errands to run, a list of things to bring, a list of the last minute things to do before we go out the door. And all of this was for a trip of 3 hours for 2 days and 1 night!

Travelling with 4 children under 4 can be very exhausting. Our 2 girls were terrible travellers between about 9 months and the age of 2. I don't know why, but the shrieking loud cries of the girls in the car were much worse than those of the boys. Now, the success of the trip depends more on whether or not the baby sleeps. We have 2 booster seats in the third row of the mini-van and there is just enough space for me to squeeze into to pass out a snack or try to pacify the baby for a while. One more child and I lose that. (Of course, if we have twins again next time, we're moving right to the big van!)

Yesterday we were in the post-trip grumpies. The kids are normally somewhat grumpy on Mondays since it is back to normal with boring ole Mommy, but after the excitement of going somewhere and getting lots of extra attention, the crankiness is quite magnified. Any tips on combatting Monday grumpies?

So here we are getting back to normal. The mountain of laundry is done and put away. We didn't leave anything at Grandma and Grandpa's house (at least nothing discovered yet!) and we had a wonderful visit. Now, if I could only get the baby to sleep all night...

Posted by Janet