I took the kids to PEI this weekend – my first real solo road trip with them. A friend had invited us over and my husband had some previous commitments so I figured it was a great weekend to try a little adventure.
We rented a mini van with a DVD player (ummm, brilliant invention for long drives with kids) and hit the road on Saturday.
It was an awesome weekend. My friend’s family owns VistaBay Golf Course and Chalets (www.vistabay.ca) and she lives right on the course. The kids were kept busy with dance parties, crafts, nail painting and general goofiness. Her Mom gave the kids all homemade crochet hats and her Dad took them all on a golf cart troll finding adventure through the golf course. He also took our son for a ride on a huge tractor and on a combine while it was cutting corn fields. You can imagine what that means to an almost three-year-old boy. I have to be honest that it warms my heart to the core when people (especially people we’ve just met) show the kids such warmth and love. My friend’s parents treated our kids like their own grandchildren and the general kindness of everybody we were around this weekend meant the world to me.
We left for home yesterday afternoon and got caught in some nasty weather outside Truro. Traffic was stopped due to an accident on the highway and we sat in the lane leading up to the ramp for over 30 minutes before I called my husband to try and figure out an alternate route.
Never have I ever felt more responsibility for our kids than I did in the two and a half hours that followed. Snow was falling, it had gotten dark and I was in a rented van and had no idea what kind of tires were on it. Cars were off the road everywhere. The snow was flying at the windshield, the highway was crazy slippery and cars were moving at a snail’s pace. Our 3.5 hour drive quickly turned into a 6 hour drive and the DVD player saved the day. As the kids sat nestled in the backseat with movies and Timbits, my mind and body were on overdrive.
Made it to Brookfield. Yes. Made it to Stewiacke. Yes. Made it to Elmsdale. Yes. I’ve driven the road so many times that I know every exit and I felt an ounce of relief as I passed each one. It was the first time I’ve ever thought about how I don’t trust the other drivers on the road. I’m going slow, I’m keeping my distance but one hot dogger could change the whole trip. I just kept thinking “get us home safe” and we finally exited the weather on this side of Enfield.
As I puttered around this morning getting everything ready for school, I couldn’t help but think that there should be Academy Award for parents. I put on a great show last night. My two, four and seven year old audience saw a happy Mom, singing along to shows and passing hot chocolate back when it was requested. All the while my insides were in knots, my mind was racing and I was counting the minutes until we were home. I’m popping Advil today because my neck muscles are so sore from holding my body so tensely.
No awards though. Just another day as a parent and all in the name of love.
Deanna is a Mom of three, wife, marketer and blogger – lover of travel, morning coffee, family time, belly laughs, good friends and uninterrupted showers! Follow her on twitter @DeannaCMiller