Friday evening we were in no hurry to head out because I planned to leave around Tree Faerie's bedtime in hopes that she would sleep the whole way. I have to pat myself on the back for that one because it worked! She slept the whole way! I drove straight through without stopping because I didn't want to chance waking her up. Since my bladder wasn't yelling at me to pull over, we just decided to keep driving.
We got to my parents' house around 12:45 AM, and as expected, Tree Faerie woke as soon as we turned off the car. She was in a good mood, though, and wanted to play for a while. We visited for a little while and finally headed to bed around 3 AM. I know this only because while I was trying to nurse Tree Faerie to sleep, the clock chimed and did its little song. Thankfully it didn't wake her back up, but I was holding my breath just in case.
The next morning she decided 7 AM was a good time to get up. Mom made scrambled eggs with cheese and toast, which was Tree Faerie's first time trying scrambled eggs. She seemed to like them okay, and she really enjoyed throwing them in the floor. My parents have a little dog that did not mind her sharing breakfast.
After breakfast, Pop brought Tree Faerie's late birthday present in. They crafted a Rocking Harley for her! It's absolutely adorable! And PURPLE! I promise to post pictures soon.
We left DTTF there sleeping while Mom, Tree Faerie, and I went to the store. Since Tree Faerie fell asleep on the way, I sat in the parking lot and waited for Mom to pick up a few things. As I sat there watching people come and go, I realized that I could have a 10 year old child right now if I hadn't been so careful. I started adding it up and figured out that one of the girls from my graduating class now has a 15 year old. I'm really glad I waited as long as I did because I'm ready to enjoy being a mother without feeling like she's holding me back or like she's a burden.
After we got back, we had lunch and made cheese dip, and I swept and mopped Mom's kitchen floor for her. My Upward Bound friends showed up just as I finished, and they brought home-made strawberry cheesecake. We all visited for a while, and I must say I'm really glad kids start small and work their way up, because if I was just handed a 3- and a 5-year-old, I'd probably pull my hair out. But the kids were cute, and we had fun talking.
That night after Pop went to work, we took Mom to dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant where they serve crab legs and shrimp. I quickly discovered my kid can really make a mess. Between the crackers, the fortune cookies, the chicken and then the jello, I practically had to bathe her with baby wipes.
Sunday morning, Tree Faerie got up with Mom and let Mom change her diaper and play with her for a while before waking me up, which was a perfect birthday present for "Grams". We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast, then we finished making the crescent rolls Mom started when she got up that morning. The crescent rolls were delicious!
When I asked Mom how it feels to be 50, she said, "Oh, about like 49." We discussed that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be when she was my age, and that 30 was the hard birthday for her. My mom is a pretty amazing woman and has been through a lot. I really admire her in a lot of ways.
We headed back a couple of hours later than I had intended, but Tree Faerie decided to take a nap before we left, and Mom fell asleep, too. We got back to Memphis around 8 on Sunday night, and I only had to ride in the back seat for the last hour of the trip. Before Tree Faerie was born, I never even considered the possibility that I would be breastfeeding in the backseat of a car doing 80 mph down the interstate. And before you ask, yes, Tree Faerie was still buckled into her car seat. I was practicing my contortionist skills.
It was a wonderful weekend. While I'm sure we'll head down there several times over the next few years, I look forward to taking her down there sometime when she's older and telling her the stories from when I was growing up. I just hope she's interested in hearing the stories.
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2 comments:
Oh, see? You're a great mom because when I breastfed in the backseat, the baby was out of the car seat.
Yeah, I'm horrible.
Glad you had a great time! :-)
LOL! It never occurred to me to take her out of the seat! Then again, long before I got pregnant I was listening to women tell stories of breastfeeding on the interstate while leaning over the car seat. I was not the person who asked the question, "Why didn't you just take the baby out of the car seat?" Which means I was also not the one who was the direct recipient of the lecture about the dangers and the law and such. I just got the chance to over-hear it.
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