You Can’t Count On The Words Until You’re Sure They’re The Right Ones

I know a lot of writers like to brag about their word counts while they work, but I don’t do that because I never know until I’m done how many of those words are going to turn out to be keepers.

Back In The Saddle Again

So it’s been a long hiatus, but after spending the last six months or so learning the ropes of how to homeschool my son, I’m finally resuming writing again.

No regrets on shifting my focus away from writing for so long, but it’s good to be back in the saddle again because writing is one of those callings you get saddle sores if you don’t do it for too long.

L’s First Road Trip (Part Five)

So while I slept in the other room, L’s Mother took one for the team and entertained L. until it was time for breakfast.  Surprisingly enough, breakfast turned out to be one of our trip’s highlights as the “free” breakfast the hotel provided for its guests turned out to be a source of marvel to L. (We don’t tend to do big breakfast spreads at home . . . not for breakfast, at least.), and even more people were treated to the announcement that this was L’s first time in CENTRAL Florida.

The field trip itself was a blur of several hours of L. running around with classmates he had only seen online prior to that moment.  Then it was time to get back in the car and for me to drive us the three hours home.

L. and his mother spent large chunks of the trip drifting in and out of almost sleep after their long morning/afternoon, so he did fine going back.  I had it a little rougher, but between L’s Mother letting me sleep that morning and Lala keeping me company while I drove, we made it back home fine and in decent spirits even with several traffic snarls delaying us along the way.  All in all, it was a good first road trip experience and I’m glad we did it.

I still miss my money though.

L’s First Road Trip (Part Four)

L. weathered the three-hour trip up pretty well.  We hadn’t been on the road too long though before he, and I quote, “changed his mind” and wanted to go back home again, and he wasn’t too happy to hear that wasn’t happening.  To be honest, I wasn’t too happy at this turn of events myself, but I still managed to be reasonably polite and cheery about it when I asked him why he had changed his mind.

I’m really glad I asked.

He told me he wanted to turn around because he didn’t like not knowing where he was or how to get back home again, which I had to admit was a reasonable thing not to like, so I passed the map and details of our route back to him, and all was right in his world once again.

And while we all got a little bored at points, for the most part my son’s enthusiasm at the idea of being in CENTRAL Florida for the first time ever carried the day for him.  Every new aspect he encountered prompted the question if this was a “central Florida” thing, and many a stranger was regaled with the fact that this was his first time visiting.  Only when it was time to actually try sleeping in the hotel bed did he gripe about it being something “he wasn’t used to,” but he still managed to go to sleep . . .

. . . until a little after four in the morning, that is, when he woke up completely disoriented about where he was or how he got there, cried out in panic, and was absolutely unable to go back to sleep after that, not from fear, but from excitement that the field trip would be starting “soon.”

I told you that second room was going to turn out to be necessary.

L’s First Road Trip (Part Three)

Then I thought about it some more and booked another room as well since there would be four of us total (Me, L., L’s Mother and Lala), and that way we’d all get our own beds (nice, but not strictly necessary) and the maximum chance of at least some of us getting some sleep that night (spoiler alert, this did turn out to be necessary).

Then I looked at the total cost of the two rooms.

Ouch.

I booked them anyway, but as I watched my money fly away I found myself obsessing over a single thought:  When I was L’s age, my Dad wouldn’t even buy me ice cream!(1)

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(1)  In Dad’s defense, at the time in question he wouldn’t buy me ice cream because I hadn’t had lunch yet and he was trying to get me to eat some French fries first, but try explaining that to a six-year-old.  Go on, I dare you!

L’s First Road Trip (Part Two)

Fortunately we had other options.  Since this was a field trip for L’s virtual school which encompasses the entire state, we had a choice of potential destinations, and one option was to go to a field trip destination that was only half an hour away from us.  But while that destination was cool, it wasn’t where his teacher was going to be, nor was it a destination that L’s Mother and I had been talking about visiting for years.  Clearly it was time for L’s first road trip.

And once I looked at the logistics involved, it was equally clear to me that it was also time for L’s first overnight stay in a bed not his own since he started sleeping in a bed, so I booked a hotel room.

L’s First Road Trip (Part One)

Last week I mentioned that my son took his first road trip recently.  All things considered it went pretty well, especially considering how it could have gone.

The reason behind our road trip, you see, was to go on a field trip with his school, and we were supposed to be at the location at 9 A.M.  I’m sure you can do the math yourself, but to fully elucidate the potential horror, to be there on time we would have had to be on the road at 6 A.M. minimum, and after a long morning and afternoon, we’d be facing an equivalent drive home in close quarters with an exhausted six-year old.

I’ll spare you my full reaction to this idea, but the last word of my thought was “that” followed by an exclamation point.

Next Week I Plan To Talk More About The Actual Trip

Last week my six-year-old son took his first real road trip, three hours in the car (one way).  I understand perfectly if this doesn’t sound terribly impressive to some people out there, because when I was his age I took trips two to three times that long every summer.

And that is precisely why I didn’t want to subject him (or me) to more than a three-hour trip for his first time.

And That’s When I Knew Exactly How Bad She Was Feeling

“Are you gracing us with your presence today?” I asked L’s Mother this morning since it was well past the time that she normally leaves for work.

When she just sort of stared at me instead of answering, I began to suspect that my question was phrased incorrectly, so I tried again with “Will you be present today?”

This time she sort of half-chuckled and half-sighed before answering “I’m not leaving the house today if that’s what you mean.”

I Got It After The Fact, But I STILL Got It

Let the record show that I, of course, got Mom’s permission to tell yesterday’s story.