My whole life I grew up going on tons of epic road trips: St George, Vegas, Disneyland, and the Eastern United States. I remember them all as if they were yesterday and now being a parent I want to be able to create those same types of memories for my fun little family. After the lithe road trip we took this weekend though I wonder, “How did my parents do it?”
My wife and son left a day before me because I had to work and couldn’t get it off. I am not going to lie, that was the hardest thing ever to let my family pack things up and leave me behind. How did we have so much stuff though for just two people? Blankets, pillows, three huge bags full of clothes and stuff (food, diapers, toys, stroller), and even a little play pad.
Plus, we had to take the pack and play to give him somewhere to sleep that we thought would be a little familiar for him. If you were to see them driving you’d think the car was about to burst with from all the stuff that was in there.
Once I got there it was a blast. Being with family and just having no electronics (except phones) made it nice to be away for just a weekend. Even if we had to pack the whole house up just for a weekend.
What I loved most about it, all though I didn’t love it at the time, was the sleepless nights from a screaming baby. Now why would I love this you ask? Well I feel like it was a reality check for sure. We usually have our son in his own room and for the most part I can’t hear him if he is screaming at night. On this trip we were all in one room and I could hear every breath, move, creek, everything. I finally understood what my wife goes through when she says she didn’t sleep because he was screaming all night.
Not that I didn’t have sympathy before, but I just realized how hard it really is to not get him and cuddle him to stop the screaming. I wanted to do anything to make him feel and sleep better. I didn’t care if I slept or was comfortable. I just wanted him and my wife to be happy, comfortable, and get some sleep.
In the end it was a total learning experience and I loved every minute of it. Now, here’s to hoping that we can get him on his schedule and sleeping through the night again, but I swear this teething thing ruins everything.
::ready to head home::
Stay tuned for what we’ve found to work and get him and ourselves sleeping again.
Great post. Funny how sleepless nights from a screaming baby was one of the highlights of your trip! : )
And you mentioned going a stretch without technology. This made me think how refreshing a lack of electronic devices can be. A bit of time away from everything – including technology – can be great!