Getting there is part...

...of the adventure. I truly believe this. I think now things are too instant. Road trips are becoming obsolete. The getting there is a waste of the being there time. I want our children to enjoy the journey. All the time. Savor getting there so that when you arrive you know what it took to be able to enjoy the time.
We are heading for Disney World, which is our most favorite family destinations. We all enjoy the wonder and magic that being in Mickey's house brings. As we've travelled well over a thousand miles in the course of what will be 5 days when we roll in tomorrow it's already been more fun than we'd imagined. We started after work on Monday driving our customary 1 hour past the children losing their minds. That is, of course, how all well intended vacations start in our family so we would be remiss to do it any other way. We stayed at a hotel and cuddled in beds and whispered good nights. Woke early, refreshed and ready for our second day of travel. We enjoyed the breakfast offerings of the hotel and walked barefooted through the halls as we began to pack everything back into it's place. On the road before 10 and spirits were high. We listened to audio theater & laughed and talked as we passed mile after mile after mile. A gloriously 80's station came on the radio and I felt the need to dance...with gusto. I was finding my inner Billy Idol as I "Mony-Mony"ed my way past a truck driver who smiled and gave me a thumbs up. In that very moment I graduated into a category of Mom that I never thought I'd know. My son grimaced in the backseat and slunk down into his high backed booster, as he is not even big enough yet to travel without it, and from behind his hands declared "Moooooom! that's so embarrassing!" I dare say I sat a little taller and went felt tilt when "Ice Ice Baby" came on next!
We arrived at our destination for the night and met friends who had become family in Georgia. I am always so amazed by the kindness shown to us by those we love. We got to hang out and enjoy quiet time and just jabber the night away. I hugged this great big manchild that I had once carried around on my hip! Listened to stories of college and first jobs from the girl who used to dress up like Alice and spin through the living room. We were treated like special guests and it was a fantastic feeling. The kids traded baths for bonus playing time. The girl child snuggled up w/the grown ups as we watched TV and bantered back and forth while the boychild got to feel like a big brother for a bit and show his friend the nintendo-ds playing ropes. Bed rest didn't feel like a confinement but rather a reason to be still and enjoy the beauty of nothing, at least it did to us. Kaity and I knelt in front of Mandy for such long periods of time, just having conversations and the whole while feeling for the movements of the next girlchild to join our family. Both my babies had eyes full of wonder and awe as they felt Aunt Mandy's belly move from the inside out. Bedtime was the enemy of fun and as it was time to get back on the road they both lamented that they *had* to go to Disney World instead of staying longer w/their family.
The road was again our home as we set out for the 3rd leg of our journey. Driving to meet a friend whom I'd known since Kaity was little and Joshua was a dream we had yet to realize. We had known each other years before we got to meet face to face and the moment we did it was like going home. We've not seen them since our family left Virginia when Joshua was still a baby. I can't believe it's been that long. We pulled up to the drive way and barefooted babies who are actually great big girls ran out to meet us. They were so excited at the thought of us. Gabby and I sat down and started in as if it was yesterday when last we'd been together. I am so thankful for friendships that don't acknowledge the concept of time. We were treated like royalty and have enjoyed every second. Hide and seek was played, cocoa consumed, laughter and squealing spilling forth from tiny mouths. At one point Kaity came downstairs wide eyed and shaking her head, "Mom....they both wanted me to play and each of them took an arm and started pulling in opposite directions! I thought that only happened on the movies, not for REAL LIFE!" Joshua was pleased to teach them how to play Ninja (I apologized then, will now, and probably several times in the future lol) and they all were saddened to hear that bedtime was upon us again. Again my kids lamented that they *had* to go to Disney World and wished they could stay a few more days and play with their friends.
We've been to Disney World before, they are not giving up the unknown. They remember all the magic and awesome that it holds and the fact that they are both willing to give up that to have more of this (which ever this this may be) makes me glad that we didn't fly. We didn't hurry. We didn't sacrifice the getting there to just be there. It makes me proud that we are teaching our children that life is a journey, not a destination.

alllllMosssst Time...

when I was younger I worked at a camp for developmentally delayed kids & adults. That job was followed by working in a home setting with some of the same people. It still echoes in my memories, still provides a lot of my mental sound effects. I still can't pass a bottle of yoohoo or think the time for something is approaching without hearing the voice of one of the campers singing out. Sometimes when I declare something to be true or just or simply fact without back up I will give it more weight by adding "the schmidt has spoken!" which sadly doesnt even translate into my current set of friends. When I am shortchanged at the store my internal dialogue is typically an instant "oh my word hun that b!&#* stole my dollar!" (which was exclaimed for the original time in the middle of church following a misunderstanding about offering). When I am out shopping and hear an exuberant sneeze it always makes me want to check under the rack to see if, perhaps, dentures have used it as a means of escape. More than once while listening to kids sing 'row row row your boat' in my head I've subbed in a hearty 'throw the nurse overboard and listen to her scream' while everyone else went merrily merrily merrily along. When I see a rousing game of get your nose (when you but your thumb into your fist and steal their nose) I remember a Dad having to drive back down the road to pick up the nose of his young son after that game fell flat on their drive to camp.

It taught me compassion and patience. It gave me the opportunity to realize different wasnt all that different after all. I love that it was such a learning ground for me. It taught me even long after I stopped working there. When my babies were little and would cry without end and I would start to feel the frazzle of it all, I remembered the first camper I fell in love with. He didnt fit into any of the standard categories of our campers and my leader told me once that he was a shaken baby. It still breaks my heart. It taught me to always look people in the eyes and smile. To not stare. To not do things for people simply because it might take less time. That laughter translates across the gaps. It was supposed to be a job, it turned into an education that still teaches me.