After a very long day driving yesterday we got a very late start this morning. My wife was the first one awake this morning which is very unusual because I am usually the first one up and ready to go. I was very beat and didn't sleep that well last night because I was listening to my daughter grind her teeth for most of the night. It was a precious moment the first time but it continued at length for most of the evening. I hope this a phase because she may not have any teeth left when she is 13 if she continues this grinding. My son snores (as do I) fairly loudly and my daughter grinds her teeth but I would trade all the sleep in the world to listen to these two do this over and over again.
I did finally settle down to sleep early in the morning and I heard my wife in the shower. I did get up and wake up the children around 8:00 am. I knew today would be a difficult driving day for everyone because we went so far yesterday so I only wanted to do 8 hours of driving. I mapped it out on the internet and if we left by 9:30 am we would be in Columbus, Ohio by 6:30 pm even losing the hour going from Central time to Eastern time. However; by the time we go on the road it was 10:30 am Central time.
I didn't want a reprise of yesterday so we would stop driving around 6:00 pm wherever we were. We went through Missouri to Illinois to Indiana and finally stopped on the border of Ohio. We were about 90 miles short of Columbus, Ohio but we found a very nice hotel here on the border of Indiana and Ohio. Tomorrow we will be longer day than I had expected because I want to make it to my mother's house in New Jersey. We have a little over 600 miles to go which should take 9 hours. If we get out by 9:00 am we should be at my mom's house at 6:00 pm.
When we stopped we had a very nice dinner and the children got to swim in the hotel's swimming pool for about an hour. They desperately needed some physical activity and thank God they got to swim. The children had a very good time swimming and after swimming we got them some ice cream. It was a very relaxing evening and the last evening all of us will spend in a hotel for some time to come but that is okay because there will be more memories to cherish in the future.
As a quick aside; when my daughter was getting out of the mini-van she put on her sandals on the wrong feet and she said to me she is so "dumb"; I told her she is not "dumb" if she puts on her sandals on the wrong feet in fact she is very smart. I proceeded to ask her some easy questions starting with her full name and then I ask her where does she live and with a smile on her face she said; "I really don't know because we left California and I don't really have a place to live." I told her that was a great answer and to not worry about that and by the way in which she answered she was NOT worried about at all. I told her she is going to live with her grandmother in New Jersey for awhile and we will all be together as a family in a very short period of time; and we will make a home somewhere whether it is New Jersey, California, Las Vegas or anywhere else the fact that we are altogether is the only thing that matters.
My daughter seems to worry about many things much like I did when I was her age. I used to worry so much I would give myself stomach aches. My parents took me to the doctor who intern referred me to a specialist and I was diagnosed with an ulcer at the age of 9 one year older than my daughter. I don't know if my daughter is on this same path and I hope she is not but if history does repeat itself I will do everything in my power to ensure she does not pick up anymore of my bad traits by making her aware of all of my mistakes. She is a great kid and is destined to be a great woman. I know she will get there and I look forward to seeing her blossom as the years go by.
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