Whew!

We're hoooooome! Yipee! We drove in at 6:20 pm this evening to the sight of Dave waiting for us underneath our swing tree and a clean house with grilled cheese sandwishes and orange slices ready on the kitchen table. As I nursed Joshey on the couch, I solemnly promised him that I would NEVER make him ride in a car again. Never, ever believe the promises of a mother after 10+ hours in the car with three kids four and under. Actually, though, the kids did quite well. I love being a mother in the era of the portable DVD player. Although I should point out that I was a kid in the era of no seatbelts and crawling around the car and Mama nursing babies in the front seat, so I suppose it all evens out in the end. In any event, I have renewed my appreciation for rest stops and mother-in-laws who packed our cooler to the gills with food so that I didn't have to feed my kids french fries for the fourth time this week. I did have one scary experience--as I was pulling out of a gas station, I was following a long line of cars turning left, and I assumed that I had a green arrow (there was a big truck in front of me, so I couldn't see the light). As I pulled out, the light turned yellow, and it became apparent that we DIDN'T have an arrow because suddenly there was a Penske truck barreling toward me, trying (just like me) to make it through the yellow light. I floored the gas, somehow avoided hitting the car that was turning in front of me, and cleared the Penske with a few feet to spare. But I pulled myself over and gave myself a talking to nonetheless, because that was way, way, way, way too close for comfort. Never assume when it comes to turning left. I remember Gabrielle telling me that driving is the most dangerous thing we do every day, and that's something that I find myself reflecting on, especially on these longer trips. During the moments when all three kids were crying and I was trying to toss a book to one, a snack to another, and steer with one hand and half an eye, I would have to stop myself and say that the point was to make it home alive. Would it be nice to have a perfect trip with everyone completely happy and their needs met? Yes. But alive is better than perfect, and my first job for today was getting them home alive. Which we did. Whew!

Now we're home to a wonderful man who took the kids and ushered me to the computer to decompress :). And another long day of driving on Thursday when I take Joshua to the Stake Youth Temple trip...