I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to check in. This trip so far has sucked hardcore and the suckiness is only gradually decreasing as each day passes. At this point in the game, I am currently being held hostage by my scared and out-of-place son and Jessie is somewhere in North Dakota, or as he calls it, Hell.
On Sunday, we arrived at the airport looking like a caravan preparing to cross the Sahara Desert. One huge checked bag, one huge purse, one heavy-assed laptop bag, one toddler-sized backpack, and one faux crocodile carry-on stuffed to maximum capacity. All of this was ON TOP of the enormous car seat for Lukas and the stroller for Lukas. I think it goes without saying that getting through security was NOT FUN. But we made it. The gentleman behind us in line was very nice and understanding.
After getting through security, we had nearly 2 hours to kill before we boarded our plane. I was so stressed and nervous that day that all I could eat all day was some rancid yogurt and some pineapple chunks. When we finally got on the plane, we seated ourselves and lived through the longest five and a half hours of my life. It was the worst plane ride ever. Lukas was loud. Lukas was tired of sitting still. There was an old fart in front of us who huffed and turned around to give us stink-eye every time Lukas make an audible sound (even though he sat up there and coughed through the whole effing flight and his wife screamed and giggled loudly at something on her computer). I’ll NEVER..and I mean NEVER fly with a small child again. My stomach and bowels are still recovering from that day.
When you get off of a long trip like that and it’s been nothing but varying degrees of bad, the first thought that comes to mind when you get off the plane is “I wanna go home.” Then I remembered that I currently don’t have a home. I’m mooching off of my mom and step-father (and I really appreciate their hospitality and kindness). I’ve displaced my family and after a flight like that, I really just wanted to go to a dark room and cry for an hour. Actually, I’d still like to do that….but there’s no time.
After we landed we had a two hour car drive from Philadelphia to my mom’s house. Lukas was just DONE WITH THAT DAY by the time we finally got here. We all sat down and had a late night mini-meal and then I tried to put Lukas down in his new (temporary) room. Oh, how naive and STUPID of me.
I didn’t honestly expect any problems from Lukas concerning sleep. He’s never been a problem sleeper and he’s always been a fiercely independent baby. Also, he hadn’t napped that day and I really thought he’d fuss for a bit and then go right down.
Ummm….no.
That child screamed bloody murder until I came into his room. He jumped up, put a death grip on me and REFUSED to be put back in that bed unless I was with him. I sighed and obliged him. I climbed into bed with him still in my gross airplane clothes and slept with him all night. I slept in an uncomfortable bra and blue jeans…so I think it’s safe to say I didn’t sleep all that effing well.
The next day I tried to recover from all the acid eating away at my lower intestine while Lukas remained attached to my leg. Luckily, he knows my mom and is comfortable being left alone with her for short amounts of time, so I was able to get a phone call here and a bathroom break there. When I tried to put him down for his nap and tried to leave the room….well you can guess. That was okay though because I needed the nap so it was nice to snuggle up in a SUPER comfortable bed (it’s a pillow top mattress and you fucking float in this thing. It’s AWESOME) and sleep for a couple of hours. Lukas woke up being sweet and he and I explored the new digs and had an awesome dinner. We’ve been living off of fast food and cheap take out for the past month and a half and even a simple home-cooked meal tasted like heaven. Again, I was stuck sleeping next to a restless toddler last night.
Even right now, I am sitting in the room with Lukas. Nickelodeon is on TV and the lights are off. He’s lying there and being quiet, but if he’s not totally asleep when I try to make my escape, the blood curdling screaming will resume. If he weren’t so darned cute and lovable…..well I’d still sit with him.
An upside to all of this is that this child is being the most affectionate that he has been his ENTIRE LIFE. I’m not even kidding. Kisses, hugs, snuggles, kisses! I’m flabbergasted! I usually have to force him to submit to affection, but he’s actually coming over to me and kissing me on his own. It melts my heart. Oh, I love this kid….even if he punched my in the face 5 times last night in his sleep.
He’s also taken to calling my mom “Bogmar”, which is probably his funniest translation to date. I guess in his head, Bogmar sounds just like Grandma. He called my step-father “Grandpa” last night and my mom got mad.
“He calls him Grandpa but calls me Bogmar?!?! He IS your kid!”
I’ll find amusement in this for years to come.
Also, I’d like to apologize to Aschlie for keeping my texts short on Sunday night. As the prefect friend, she texted me to see if we’d arrived and I was being short because I was at that time in the backseat of a car. I’m one of those people who have face-exploding-scary-exorcist-barf when I read while in the car and my step-father’s car has leather interior and I didn’t want to compromise my living situation by barfing all over the place. Please feel free to write, text or call me. If I don’t answer, I’m probably in bed with my baby boy….being punched in the face.
