A Dose of Adult

I packed up Michael & Ryan and we headed to St. Louis for the weekend to celebrate my cousin’s graduation from college.  I really, really needed to interact with some adults and it would be nice to see my family so the trip alone with the boys seemed logical in my head.  Leaving Freddy and the dogs to a weekend long vacation of silence and lack of agenda annoyed me just a bit, if I must say. 

The 5 hour drive in traffic, construction and pouring rain was accompanied by approximately 8,973,672 questions by Michael. 

Why do cows poop in the grass?  Why are there different kinds of cars?  Why do the different kinds of cars have different symbols?  Why does Grandma live so far away?  I mean, why does Grandma live a “short-long” drive away?  Why does Uncle B not live at Grandma’s house anymore?  Is there a potty in a barn?  Why did that Ford have a sticker in the window?  When will we be there?  How many more miles are left?  When will this rain stop?…The questions didn’t stop!

Sometimes the questions came right after one another so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to respond.  I love his curiosity and his love to learn but I can assure you that I thought approximately 8,973,672 times “ZIP THE LIPS AND GO TO SLEEP CHILD!  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND MY SANITY, PLEASE BE QUIET!”  No dice.    Ryan let me know about 8,973,672 times “GET ME THE EFF OUT OF THIS CARSEAT YOU CRAZY LADY!”  It was a very long drive. 

Another downfall when travelling alone with children…how in the HELL are you supposed to PEE with a 4-year-old and 11 month old by yourself?  I can’t leave the said children alone in the restaurant dining area…there are WACK JOBS out there!  Someone might want to steal my question and poop machines!  OK so take them in the bathroom with me.  Great idea, until you get in there and realize where the HELL am I going to put the Ryan?  Michael can stand by himself.  There is no way I am putting my precious baby on the bathroom floor of a McDonalds….ICK times 8,973,672!  So the only option is after a diaper change, keeping Ryan strapped to the changing table.  Can I tell you how much he LOVED that?  I am sure there was a whole McDonald’s who could attest to the healthiness of the lungs on my child!  I never peed so fast in my life. 

However once in St. Louis, the adult conversations totally made up for the car ride.  Someone actually asking me questions and LISTENING to my response!  Conversations that did not include SpongeBob or Handy Manny!  Two-way conversations that involved words and not just me talking and getting “Uh-huh” back!  Ahhhhh, it was simply beautiful!  My sister Alise, snatches up those boys and allows me to have a moment to myself!  (I chose to pee in peace!)  She is awesome.

And then we got back into the car to come home…rinse and repeat!