Pre-Vacation Jitters No. 4

It gets a little better before it gets worse...

Miraculously, we left on time, as planned. Maybe a little stupidly, I was behind the wheel. I had made my case to be the first driver. I was too keyed up to sleep right away, and I knew I would certainly be no good later in the day once fatigue took it’s anticipated grasp on my senses.

I lasted 3 hours at the wheel, getting us gloriously close to the California border. My husband took over driving, and I adjusted the u-shaped neck pillow around my neck and slightly reclined my seat. I was not under the illusion that I would actually be falling asleep. Besides the fact that sleep did not come easily to me in the car, I also knew the kids would be talking, asking questions of the “are we there yet” variety, requesting snacks and needing one thing or another that was just out of reach. Most assuredly there would also be a good dose of teasing, crying and screaming.

I did hope, however, that I would be able to relax and counted on my mp3 player to help me tune out the kids. I hadn’t spent more than a couple minutes in my own little world when I got a tap on the arm. My husband notified me that Jonah was starting to complain about his tummy.

I reached for the plastic bowl and dish towel I’d stashed behind my seat for this very situation and undid my seat belt so that I could make it back to the rear of the car. My timing was impeccable! No sooner did I sit next to Jonah with the bowl perched perfectly under his chin than he threw-up. The seat organizers I’d attached to the back seats were thoughtfully stocked with everything we could possibly need. Besides the mandatory electronic games, books and coloring paraphernalia, I’d also included wet wipes, antibacterial hand sanitizer and a water bottle.

I handled the whole ordeal with the skill and precision of a surgeon and except for the bowl of barf I now held in my lap, there was no evidence of any kind of disturbance to our well planned trip. We stopped at the next rest stop to empty and rinse our bowl and quickly got back on the road.