Hopeful

Can you all read the following and understand that I am hopeful? I hope so, because I just have to tell you all how exhausted I am. Those of you who have or do regularly travel with your little kids (across time zones, or even to the next state) can probably relate to how I feel.

Yesterday was the longest day ever. I actually calculated that I have gotten between 6-7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours (and here I am at 6am in California, typing as Annelise plays around my feet!). You know how it is the night before a big trip, right? You plan ahead, you spend days packing, you clear out your fridge, do laundry, pay all your bills... and still you end up staying up until 11:30 the night before, knowing that the shuttle will be at your door at 3:45 the next morning so that you can catch your 6:15 flight. (Your littlest child wakes up at 12:30 and requires a middle-of- the-night nursing, something she got used to on another recent trip!) I promise... I was prepared, but the night before it just seems like there is so much to do!

Then you spend the next 10 hours either on a plane or in an airport, trying to keep the kids occupied and happy. It involves food (lots of candy/gum works for Danny, while lots of breast-feeding or Cheerios for Miss A), new toys from the dollar store (for Danny), and lots of patience. I was so glad to be traveling with Randy (although last time I did it by myself).

Your baby only sleeps 2 1/2 hours during the 10 hour plane/airport experience, while your preschooler doesn't sleep at all. You are flying through time zones and actually arrive at your destination just before lunch (even after the last 11 hours). You arrive feeling like you have just had 3 days. No naps for the preschooler, but your baby chooses to sleep for 1 1/2 hours. Grandpa occupies the preschooler so that mom and dad can rest. And now it is family time... a party to visit with your local family. You stay up later than you should, and so do the kids, but they'll sleep in right? The preschooler is still sleeping (it is now 6:10am, yea!), but the baby knows no significance of light and dark, day and night, hungry or tired. She wakes up every couple of hours ALL night. And of course she is sleeping in your room, so you breast-feed her just to keep her quiet/happy.

I know some of you can relate, right?

I am hopeful. I am hopeful that Annelise will get adjusted to her sleep environment. I am hopeful that we will all adjust to Pacific Coast time (and in one week, island time). I am hopeful that no one will get sick. I am hopeful that we will be able to sneak in some naps, even if Danny doesn't. I am hopeful that our tiredness won't hinder our visit with family. I am hopeful that when we look back on these trips, we will remember the fun and not the lack of sleep or stress of traveling. (Although I hope we remember some of the stress, so that we are patient and kind to young parents as we get older. I always wonder about the older crowd who seems really impatient with fussy babies on the plane. Did you have kids? Did you ever take them anywhere? Don't you remember anything of how difficult it could be? But that is another story!)

There you go. The thoughts of a sleep-deprived mommy! (Looking at all this makes me glad that I wasn't traveling farther! Power to all of you international-traveling mommies! I'm not there, yet! Mexico is about it!)