Crossing 4 generations

The Dude and I made a major road trip today, which went pretty well but which also left me saying that I hope another trip like it is not in our future for quite some time. I finally took Liam up to Listowel to visit my grandma (who will be known as GG to Liam - owing to the additional generation). No small feat, as this consisted of a three-hour road trip - and that's one way. So our day went like this: up at 7, out the door at 9 (I cannot believe that it took two hours to get us out the door, but it did - heaven help me when I go back to work), on the road til noon, spend a couple of hours with Grandma, during which time she feeds me and I feed Liam, drop in on two aunts at their places of business in Listowel before turning around and driving home for three hours. Actually, I extended the trip home a little - drove as far as London, stopped to feed and change Liam again, and then popped him in the stroller and browsed at a shop for half an hour, just to give him a change of scenery and break up the drive a little more. This may have helped somewhat, but I still had to deal with a ten-minute hissy fit about half an hour from home, and let me tell you - driving alone at the end of the day with a six-month-old throwing a hissy fit - even if said hissy fit only lasts ten minutes, it feels like forever.

When I got home, I discovered why the drive-through was invented: for people like me who have a fussy kid in the back seat, no steam left to make themselves dinner at home, and no desire to schlep their kid out of the car seat and into a public place to order something to eat, because said kid could melt down at any minute. At least, that's how I justified dinner from McDonald's to myself tonight. Of course, Liam then turned into a bright and cheery little guy at home for a couple of hours, just to make me think maybe I could have found something to eat at home, and induce some guilt about my heart-attack-in-a-brown-paper-bag. Thanks, Dude.

As much as I complain about the semantics of the day, it was nice to finally introduce GG to Liam and vice versa, and to see GG myself - it's been a while. It was also a beautiful drive, through a countryside full of fall colours and pumpkin fields. It won't be long before the snow flies and rules out another lengthy trip like it, so I'm glad we crossed it off our to-do list today.