Thursday, January 2, 2014

I Can Top That

I have to admit that, sometimes, when reading about the horror stories of parents traveling with kids, I laugh. Not because I'm a mean person and am taking pleasure from their tales. But because they act like it's the worst thing in the world. The tales from parents of one or two kids just seem so...I don't know, manageable, to me. I raised four. Everything that happened did so-- x4.

"OMG. My youngest threw up repeatedly in the car on the way to the relatives over Christmas. And then my oldest followed suit." Really? It happened to us too. But it was usually Thanksgiving. And it didn't stop at two kids. Nope. THAT was just the beginning. And they didn't just throw up on themselves or a blanket on in my hand. Nope. They threw up all over the place even though we had plastic bags (because who doesn't keep those in the car when you have kids?). AND THEN, it went through the whole family and the relatives. Yeah, fun times. Black Friday took on a whole new meaning that year.

How about the Thanksgiving when I had been telling a certain man that the van (yes, I used to drive a mini-van) sounded as though it was going to throw a rod. I was ignored. We get on the road, about three hours in and BAM! Rod thrown. New engine bought. Thanksgiving saved by the loan of another vehicle from a relative.

How about the trip back from a family gathering of sorts in Georgia and we get on the road home only to have to outrun a freaking tornado??? Scary as hell and exhilarating all at the same time. Especially with four screaming daughters that drowned out the sound of the golf balled sized hail furiously pounding the car.

Or the time that we were headed into uncharted territory with an outdated map and the AC in the car broke and someone didn't stop to ask for directions for about 2 hours and...well, you can take it from there, I'm sure.

What about the time(s) we took the boat out into Bull's Bay and it broke down. And no one was out there. For HOURS. And people were not feeling well. And yes, that would be plural 'times'.

What about a certain someone teaching the daughters how much fun surfing is. And how it's always best just before a hurricane. It's not a trip, but still.

Oh yeah. I've got plenty of tales. Crazy tales. And we lived through each and every one of them. Surprisingly. So you can imagine how comical some of the tales I've heard lately seem.

Now, come on. Let's hear your tales. If you've got kids, you've got tales!

10 comments:

  1. I got my kids the easy way. I married their dad when they were 20 and 16. Blessed that they were good students, hard workers and responsible. Blessed. But they had watched their mom die from cancer, and she told everyone, including them, that she wanted Joe to find someone and marry again - and that they should trust him and be happy. Blessed.

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  2. I don't have kids, and I don't know how parents cope with traveling with kids (no matter how few/many)!

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  3. Puking kids - the biggest nightmare of them all. I probably can't top your kid-nightmare-travel stories, but there was this one camping trip ... we were to be gone for a week. The very first morning I woke up to the unmistakeable smell of vomit. I looked over at the boys and Sam had puked hotdog skins and orange soda pop all over himself, his sleeping bag and his big brother.

    There was nowhere to wash the sleeping bag, of course ... it was, um, probably the smelliest camping trip we ever had.

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  4. I laugh, too, when I hear the stories. No matter how horrible the parent telling the story thinks it is, we seasoned parents know that mom will be laughing some day.
    Our kids are pros at vomiting in the most impressive way possible. Our daughter once managed to cover a stairwell with her spew, all 30 stairs and 20 foot walls, top to bottom.
    One threw up in church just one month ago. We were sitting in the 4th pew from the front.
    I'll stop now. :)

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  5. If my parents were still alive they could tell you about the time my younger brother & I (aged 5 and 3) decided to paint ourselves with the tar left behind when the workers went to lunch. It was not a pretty result and it involved a lot of Dutch Cleanser and a can of gas. We lived. My kids were dreams next to me and my bro.

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  6. Ha!!! I had just Mike and our family vacations were awesome! Mike slept any time the car moved. Wide awake and ready to roll when not. So can you guess how many miles we travel at night instead of motels. Parents a bit sleepy but hey a quiet happy car.
    Blessings Pam!

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  7. The war wounds of parenthood! I came home from delivering my 3rd son on my first born's 7th birthday. The party was scheduled (the baby was 2 weeks late, thank you), everything organized. Luckily my sister was in town to help out so she did the party at one of those ceramic painting places. Only the pizza place forgot to deliver the food to the ceramics place, so the kids at the party didn't eat. No big deal, they had cake. While the party was happening, my husband started barfing after eating some pretty old hot dogs that he saw were slimy but he ate them anyway. Hello food poisoning. My sister refused to do the barf laundry so I was hauling everything up and down the basement stairs, nursing a very sick man back to health (and all THAT entails), caring for a newborn, and the other two - three days later, the older 2 kids came home with chicken pox. Which I had never had. So after those 2 got back on their feet, the baby and I both had a whopper case of the pox. I kept my sister and mom away because I thought they might get shingles. And hubs? When I asked him to bring dinner home one night, he went to the grocery store after work and brought home food. For me to cook. Yeah, I win.

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  8. Honestly, I can't remember any horror stories with Mike. He was such a great kid and we took trips all over together while Rich worked. Now when I was a kid, it was usually me puking all over the back seat because I got carsick always and we had relatives in and over the mountains of WV or Upstate NY. Or me having accidents because my father was too stubborn to stop and let me pee somewhere. Oh good times indeed!!! lol.

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  9. Terri- That is the easy way for sure. What a lovely woman to want that for her family. So selfless!

    Plum- It's not as hard as you think. You just have to be ready and focused.

    Cathy- Sounds like a camping trip we took when I was growing up. And one of my brothers threw up. The odor was...well, you know. LOL

    Christine- Yes, they will be laughing one day! Just like us. And also glad they aren't still going through it. LOL

    Stephanie- No you didn't!!! I can't even imagine!

    Julie- LUCKY! We never had that!

    Unknown- I don't even know what to say I'm laughing so hard! Remind me to tell you the time our DD3 was born. Almost on the highway. LOL

    Barb- You people with the one son are just bragging, aren't you? LOL Or maybe it was just enough from when you were a kid. :)

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  10. Of course there are always tales, lots of them. We sit around and laugh our heads off now, but then well, it was different. My son did say he was telling one of the stories to the guys at work and they asked for my number so they could call his Mom and they would beat up my son for me. I thought it was hilarious.
    I much enjoy reading your stories. because I do think yours top mine every single time. :) Yes, out running the tornado was never fun.
    We did that too, but we sure got to the place we were going fast.
    Have a great day.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It makes me feel connected to everyone even though we may live far apart! Have a wonderful day!

 
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