Wandering Wednesday: Bag It

I'm not too sure about this theme. I came up with all these days of the week theme ideas (ie Mildly Embarrassing Monday, Teaching Tuesday, you'll see what else) while I was supposed to be paying attention during a meeting. I need guidelines so that every post I write doesn't turn into a misanthropic rant against the all the people who bug me. And I wanted something more original than Wordless Wednesday - er, no offense to Wordless Wednesday, I've done it countless times. But for me it's  like an ex that you keep returning to when you're lonely; there's no challenge or creativity or bravery involved. The ex may be a perfectly lovely person (or not), but he's not the One.

Tangent alert! Tangent alert!

Anyway, so I thought of "Wandering Wednesday", where I could post tips about road tripping with children, places worth visiting and stuff like that. Not that I'm an expert on traveling the way I am on teaching and embarrassing myself, but I'm not an idiot, either. Besides, I've actually seen things I've come up with on my own as pins on Pinterest. That's gotta count for something, right?

If you (like I often am) are too lazy to click the link, it shows an outfit packed into a Ziploc-type bag. I totally came up with the same idea on my own when we road tripped to Florida when Hugmonkey was a baby. I packed kids' outfits - diapers/undies, socks, tops, bottoms - into bags and labelled them with each kid's name. I even did a version for the adults. I had separate bags for bathing suits and water shoes, too. That way it's easy to pack them when they're still wet, if you have to. For that trip, I think I even did the kids' toys in plastic bags - one for crayons, one for Legos, one for Barbies. . .

Now, my kids all pack their own backpacks of stuff and we have special LEGO cases so that masterpieces don't get broken. 

Lego cases in action. 

But the bags are great for little kid toys. And I still do the outfit in a bag thing - in addition to keeping everything organized, it made it easier for the kids to help me pack.

Is this information helpful and/or interesting? Do you have a better theme idea for Wednesday? I like alliteration (obviously) but I'm open-minded. I don't have a lot of topics of expertise, so don't suggest anything too challenging.

A Letter At The End of THE TRIP

Dear passengers on the flight from KCI to Newark last Wednesday night,

I am sorry about my son's tantrum. He hadn't had a chance to run around in days and he just wanted to get down. Also, his ears hurt because we kept circling. But contrary to what those two little bitches young women in front of me believed, the tears streaming down my face were not because my toddler kept head-butting me. And screaming. And kicking.

Tantrums don't make me cry. They really don't. But we had just spent ten days with my in-laws, conserving water and not having internet access and I just wanted to GO HOME. Instead, the plane was circling. But that wouldn't normally make me cry either. Even the horrible PMS I was having wouldn't make me cry in public.

It was (what felt like) the hot knives piercing my skull and the nausea and dizziness that undid me. I have been in pain like that before and I have been that (or even more) nauseous and dizzy before, of course. Like during the colonoscopy where the medieval sadist of a doctor wouldn't give me painkillers. But at least then I was not really in public, nor was I trying to control a screaming toddler, nor was I a survivor of ten days of stress, nor was I trying to continue a conversation with my three year old so that she wouldn't feel ignored.

I am hoping that most of you didn't even notice my tears. I didn't make any noise while I cried, after all. You may have noticed me snapping at Hubby, who had no idea what the hell was wrong with me and was embarrassed by my tears. (In his defense, I really couldn't explain - I was too terrified to talk, lest I throw up. He offered to change seats so he could hold Lovebug - airline policy only allowed the person in my seat to hold an infant - but I was so dizzy I was too terrified to stand up. Hubby had no way to help and no idea what was wrong with me. ) If so, don't worry about it. Generally we are quite happy with each other and normally we're a reasonably functional family.

Sincerely,

The lady with the puffy pink face in 11B

And Next Year's Vacation Will Be. . .

Next year I am not bringing the children with me on vacation. Hot Guy can fly out to his parents' house with them, while I take a leisurely drive BY MYSELF. That will be my vacation. Alone in the car for hours on end, blasting my own music and not having to share my M&M's (a candy so popular on this trip that Lovebug taught himself to say it). After spending a few days at my in-laws' (and after investing in an iPhone so I can blog while in the country), I will then begin my leisurely drive back home. Upon returning, I will rest and organize the house until Hubby flies back with the kids.

Then life will get back to normal and I will actually feel rested instead of stressed out. I cannot express how happy I am to be home, though. Being gone for more than two weeks is just too much. Though not for Ironflower - she was terribly disappointed when she found out that we would be sleeping at home and not at a hotel last night. She rebounded admirably when she remembered all the toys she has here at home though. Lovebug, after screaming fits in his car seat (though, really, by yesterday I was tempted to join him) and waking us all at un-Godly hours and generally being a serious challenge has morphed into the sweet little boy he can be.

I now understand why people take vacations WITHOUT their children. I never really did before. As a new mother, I heard about a mom of a three month old who went to the Caribbean for a week. I couldn't imagine wanting to be away from my newborn for so long (not to mention the lack of breastfeeding involved) and while I still can't imagine needing a vacation from a tiny baby, toddlers are a different matter all together. While I know that if Hot Guy and I did escape somewhere tropical we'd spend the whole time talking about the kids and imagining which sights they'd like best, I'm ready for the chance to miss them.

Disjointed Ramblings of A City Girl

"Vacationing" with toddlers is an oxymoron. We have been gone for over a week now and today is the first day I really feel like I'm on vacation. That's because Ironflower and Lovebug are at the farm torturing their grandparents and I have driven to KC to use the internet and shop. Well, seeing as the trip is way more expensive than expected (aren't they always), the highlight will be internet usage.

My in-laws live in the country and have no internet access. They also don't have much luck with cell phones, despite the new tower. My kids adore their grandparents and the feeling is more than mutual, but I'm a wreck. I'm having a very hard time living without the internet. Theoretically, I could write and then post when I got the chance but I haven't written anything worthwhile. Maybe it's the fear of the kids breaking one of grandma's pretties (this is not unfounded) and maybe it's the fact that I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns (so good).

Hot Guy is so refreshed being in the country and the kids are quite happy. I love my in-laws, but I am not a country person. I can appreciate being able to see the stars so clearly, but that pales in comparison to being able to use the internet. Or to walk to the store. You would think that as much as other people get on my nerves that I would relish being so far away from them. But all it does is make me think of all the horror movies I watched in junior high in the '80's.

I'm probably going to hell for this blog. I feel so guilty about being so cranky there. I'm sure that's why Hot Guy sent me up here today. I've tried to hide it, but he knows me a little too well.
I hope today helps.

Things I've meant to blog about lately but haven't gotten a chance:

Lovebug said his first sentence (at 17 months, I think this is pretty good for a boy). He pointed to himself in the mirror and said, "I'm in there" (well, actually it sounded more like "Um indere").

Ironflower now says "Leave me alone!" whenever she's pooping, regardless of whether anyone is talking to her or not. I hope this bodes well for potty training.

We stayed in the trashiest motel on our way here. It seemed okay until we started observing the other guests. That's what we get for trying to save money. I tried to look at it as a sociological observation, but when a couple started having sex in the pool as soon as we got out (as her elementary school aged daughter pouted on a lounge chair), I started to lose it. The kids have never gotten such a thorough bath. And I wouldn't let them wear their bathing suits again until we washed the suits at grandma's. Ick.

My Children Are Underprivileged

My Dad keeps sending me articles from the Wall Street Journal about modern parenting. Apparently, my toddlers should be in language classes, music classes and Little Gym. They should have a $1200 swing set and a climbing wall in the basement. And we should be saving up to take them on safari.

Look, I wish we had the swing set and I'm looking into music classes (though I'm really not going to worry much about extra-curricular activities until they are actually following a curriculum). But we're not going a safari. Even if I win the Lottery.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed parents who took their elementary school-aged kids on African safaris, vacations to Hong Kong and Panama and camping in the Brazilian rainforest. It even listed resources for "Adventure Travel with Kids" - and medical warnings.

Helloooooooooooo? These are the same parents who make their kids where helmets, who make sure playground floors are comfortable enough to sleep on, who complain if a teacher marks their child's paper in red (yes, this is true, most school districts do not allow teachers to correct in red anymore), who spend their lives making sure their children suffer no consequences or disappointments. . .but they're willing to shell out thousands of dollars to take their children places that lack safe drinking water and medical facilities?

I believe in travel. I think children should experience the world around them - and not just the sanitized Disney version (though I can't wait until my kids are old enough to appreciate Disney World). We even travelled to Alaska last summer - with a 19 month old and a 4 month old. But I believe that one of the best things about having kids is encouraging their sense of wonder - at even the simplest things. For most kids, a (reasonable) ride in an airplane is almost as good as the destination. What are 7 year olds who have seen tigers up close going to wonder about anymore? What's going to be exciting and wonder-ful to ten year olds who have canoed down the Amazon?

But setting aside safety and spoiling concerns, I still have a problem. One of the parents in the article suggested that, "You can't save the world unless you know what's in it." I agree with that, theoretically. But shouldn't we start with our own country anyway? Have the kids whose parents are showing off ever more fantastical vacations ever been to a farm? Have these kids been to New York City and compared it to Kansas City? Have these kids walked on a glacier in Alaska? Have they been to the Grand Canyon? To Gettysburg? To Washington D.C.? To Mount Rushmore? To a working cider mill? To a rocky beach in Oregon? To a smooth beach in Florida? To New Orleans? To the Freedom Trail? To Las Vegas? To Santa Fe? To Iowa City (I'm not kidding, it's a wonderful town)?

Before we can ask our children to save our world, we need them to save our country. And if we raise them to think that there's not much in our country worth seeing, what are we teaching them? They're not going to save something they don't respect.

Sorry kids, you're going to have to go on Safari on your own time. This summer we're hitting the Jersey shore, Ohio, Illinois and Kansas.