My family and I left Colorado on Friday evening at 11:30 pm to start our long drive across the country to our home state of Pennsylvania. We decided at the last minute to leave so early in hopes that our children (5 and 2 year old girls) would sleep through the bulk of the drive.
Unfortunately, we had hyped up the trip so much that they were both giggling and cheering for the first 10 minutes, sufficiently waking them up so much that they then groaned and cried for the following hour and no one could sleep (not even me...even though I was scheduled to relieve my husband of the driving so he could get some sleep). Eventually, I got a couple of hours, but it was still exhausting.
We stopped for a break a little east of St. Louis in a hotel that was reserved for the night, but we decided that since we survived the crazy night driving idea of the evening before, we'd try again last night.
Did I mention we are also travelling with our 90 pound lab/husky mix?
After dinner and baths, we closed the blinds of the hotel room, pretended 5:30 pm was bed time, and all lay down for a 5-6 hour rest before heading out again. This plan worked for my husband and 5 year old daughter, who slept soundly for the bulk of the time in one of the two queen beds. For me and my anxious squealing dog and wide awake 2 year old, it did not. I didn't fall to sleep until around 8:30...20 minutes after my 2 year old finally went down...and with no help from my guard dog who thought that every time someone opened a door in our hallway, it was cause for a few warning barks followed by 10 minutes of a high pitched cry.
Two hours later, we were awake and back in the car again, heading to our final destination. This second night of driving totally accomplished the original goal. Both girls slept soundly through the night...allowing me to sleep in the front seat (thank god) and Steve to drive until after 6 am. We're all still exhausted now though. So freakin exhausted. We're at my parents' house until Friday then heading down to Steve's family's home for 4 days before starting the torturous long drive back to Colorado.
So far I've forgotten my glasses and my 5 year old's sneakers.
I'm over it. I had a spare pair of glasses in the car and I had already packed 2 pairs of flip flops for my daughter (although she already lost a pair in the mud when we stopped in a town we used to live to reminisce...there was a pond, a cute little trail, and my daughter doesn't listen...so those flip flops didn't really stand a chance anyway).
Currently, I'm in bed in my childhood room while my own kids sleep on the floor and the 10+ year old air conditioner rattles in the window. Steve chose to sleep on the couch. This is gonna be a rough couple of weeks.
I'm going to try to join the rest of my family in going to sleep.
Unfortunately, we had hyped up the trip so much that they were both giggling and cheering for the first 10 minutes, sufficiently waking them up so much that they then groaned and cried for the following hour and no one could sleep (not even me...even though I was scheduled to relieve my husband of the driving so he could get some sleep). Eventually, I got a couple of hours, but it was still exhausting.
We stopped for a break a little east of St. Louis in a hotel that was reserved for the night, but we decided that since we survived the crazy night driving idea of the evening before, we'd try again last night.
Did I mention we are also travelling with our 90 pound lab/husky mix?
After dinner and baths, we closed the blinds of the hotel room, pretended 5:30 pm was bed time, and all lay down for a 5-6 hour rest before heading out again. This plan worked for my husband and 5 year old daughter, who slept soundly for the bulk of the time in one of the two queen beds. For me and my anxious squealing dog and wide awake 2 year old, it did not. I didn't fall to sleep until around 8:30...20 minutes after my 2 year old finally went down...and with no help from my guard dog who thought that every time someone opened a door in our hallway, it was cause for a few warning barks followed by 10 minutes of a high pitched cry.
Two hours later, we were awake and back in the car again, heading to our final destination. This second night of driving totally accomplished the original goal. Both girls slept soundly through the night...allowing me to sleep in the front seat (thank god) and Steve to drive until after 6 am. We're all still exhausted now though. So freakin exhausted. We're at my parents' house until Friday then heading down to Steve's family's home for 4 days before starting the torturous long drive back to Colorado.
So far I've forgotten my glasses and my 5 year old's sneakers.
I'm over it. I had a spare pair of glasses in the car and I had already packed 2 pairs of flip flops for my daughter (although she already lost a pair in the mud when we stopped in a town we used to live to reminisce...there was a pond, a cute little trail, and my daughter doesn't listen...so those flip flops didn't really stand a chance anyway).
Currently, I'm in bed in my childhood room while my own kids sleep on the floor and the 10+ year old air conditioner rattles in the window. Steve chose to sleep on the couch. This is gonna be a rough couple of weeks.
I'm going to try to join the rest of my family in going to sleep.
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