Cruisin' Together: The Best & Worst of Times (Part 2)

There is a secret law of parenthood that no one talks about. It might be whispered about between parents - phone conversations that go one for hours, in private. No one without children ever hears about it. In fact, you can google it all you want and you'll come up empty handed. But I'm bold... I'm going to blog about it.

The Secret Law of Traveling with Infants
(And this is like a law of physics - it's undeniable, not up for discussion)
If you take your infant (age 6 months to 2 years) on any trip longer than 2 hours away from home for any length of time lasting for 24 hours or longer and spend more than $200 on travel expenses, you will be subjected to some or all of the following:
A child you do not know - a child you don't recognize. A child you might describe as a "monster child." A child that turns red and wails for no apparent reason. A child that instantly shows signs of illness without warning. A child that refuses to sleep and becomes an insomniac, lasting 48 hours without napping or sleeping. A child that goes through 20 diaper changes a day. A child that requires multiple outfit changes due to extreme distress (hot sweats, intense drooling, vomiting). A child that no longer finds any comfort in the arms of his/her parents. A child that will make you no longer like children. A child that turns into a fire breathing dragon... oh wait, that part might be exaggerated... maybe not.

Why wasn't I warned about this law? Hmmm... I don't know. I guess that's why it's a secret. Anyways, the secret's out! I'm in on it now. I got it. I learned the lesson and I'm passing it on.

So, all that business about the cruise ship being wonderful... It was. Let me be clear. It was the family trip of a lifetime. Too bad Dean didn't agree. He flat out hated our trip. Even though he is only 1, he said "I would have preferred to be asked if I wanted to take a cruise and I would have told you emphatically 'No!'" Dean is really amazing with vocabulary, so this is exactly what he said. Actually, he just cried for another 5 hours and pushed me in the face and scratched my arms in despair and I kind of understood what he was saying.

We were gone for 6 days. That is 144 hours of vacation. 144 hours of pure bliss. Except Dean fussed/whined/cried/screamed/wailed for 141 hours. He did enjoy 3 hours of our vacation. That was the best 3 hours of the trip!

That was on Day 5.

We were sailing back to Florida on a full day at sea and we came back to the room. We expected Dean to have his usual meltdown. Instead, we opened the doors to our balcony and a little bit of heaven opened up. The sea was calm and glassy. The weather was very warm, but not hot. The sun was golden. And Dean was happy!








Doesn't Devon look so grown up here? I can't even believe it!




Instead of kisses and smiles, I get dinosaur roars!

For 3 hours, Dean was an angel and we loved and kissed him and forgave him for all the very bad things he had done on our vacation.









I'm trying to be an optimist. I am trying to look for the sweet things about life... the memories I'm making with my family and all the blessings that we have. I did enjoy our vacation. I really did. I got all the things I wanted, but I got to experience them with a soundtrack of "Baby Shrieking." That's ok. There will be future vacations...




When Dean turns 10.