In the fall of last year my sister and brother-in-law were planning on visiting my family during Christmas. There were some thoughts of my mother visiting as well, though distant they were. Unfortunately this didn’t happen since they all fell ill and traveling just wasn’t a good idea. My wife was really looking forward to this visit as our girls didn’t really know my family beyond pictures.

When the trip fell through my wife decided we would visit them in April. I could tell she was serious about this. When you live with a woman for more than a decade you learn when not to question her, and more importantly you learn when questioning her won’t do any good. The planning had already begun.

The only issue that was rolling around in my wee brain was the fact that we would be driving some 1300 miles each way with a 3 year old and another at 21 months (the older kids had opted out of the trip. It seems this is an available option when they don’t live with you full time). The intention was to drive straight through, visit for a week, and drive straight back through to home. This scenario seemed riddled with glass half full opportunities.

My wife wasn’t phased. She had every detail of the trip planned, including the fact that she would be doing most of the driving. You see, my wife has been working a couple of days a week as a 3rd shift nurse in the RNICU. This experience has allowed her body and mind to be abused conditioned to running without sleep (even more than having toddlers has done). She decided the trip would begin around 7 PM and she would drive through the night. And drive she did. All said and done I drove maybe 15 hours of the 46 that we traveled.

But what about the kids you ask? Well, the kids are the real surprise in this story. In preparation for this trip my wife had thought of everything. She purchased seat organizers that held all new toys (nothing costing more than a few dollars; coloring books, kaleidoscopes, etc). She borrowed the neighbors dual screen DVD player. She packed food and comfort toys and books for each child. Everything was covered, except the unpredictable nature of children. No one knows who they may become, which of their personalities will be on display on a trip like this. At least that is what I thought. It turns out my wife knows the answer to this question as evidenced by two incredibly sweet and amicable little girls as we traveled west.

There was never an issue, not one. Well, maybe one. It seems that setting in a car seat for many hours does funny things to the circulation system. Every several hours we would stop and allow the girls to run and play. This always started with them looking a bit like drunken sailors, though they always found their legs soon enough. Amazingly they never complained when ushered back into the car. The girls could not have behaved better. As a matter of fact they may have even behaved a little better on this trip than they do on any normal day when they aren’t setting in a car for ten’s of hours. This is coming from a guy who thinks his kids are pretty darn well behaved.

Some incredible things happened when we reached our destination. One of these being the unbelievable bond the girls developed with a grandmother they had never met. A grandmother that is known for not really liking little kids. Another was the fresh perspective a stubborn 37 year old man was able to look through when seeing his tired 72 year old mother for the first time in a very long time.

The last of these will have to wait for another post, though it will be soon. This short week opened plenty of doors and minds. Most of which should and will be shared.

Stay tuned.