1500 miles, 4 children, 1 tired momma!

Well we arrived in Florida! I drove the kids down to Florida to visit my family this week. We had planned on leaving Wednesday, but due to various storm patterns that were approaching the Northeast, we decided to leave on Monday. The plan was to have me take my time driving down to my sister's, have Andy fly down and meet us on Saturday, and then we'll take the kids camping at Disney's Fort Wilderness. It was a good plan, but it was quite a bit harder then I expected.


Monday we got a late start (10 am) and only made it to Delaware before stopping for the night. I planned on making sandwiches for lunch and stopping at a rest stop to let the kids run around and eat a nice healthy lunch. There was only one problem - it's January - so all the rest stops our first day were covered in snow and COLD! Oops, should have thought of that. I also made a second mistake, I decided that due to our late start, I'd drive for a bit after dinner before getting a hotel room. Well, both boys fell asleep in the car after dinner so by the time I stopped and got a room, they had had a nice nap and were now wide awake! It was 11 pm before I finally got all the kids settled and in bed.


Tuesday we made it to the southern part of North Carolina. When we stopped for lunch at a rest stop in Virginia there was no snow (yeah!) so the kids were able to run around for an hour before getting back in the car. I also stopped for dinner and got a hotel at the same exit - wanting to avoid yesterday's mistakes. I forgot, however, to stop in the afternoon to let the kids run around. The result: two VERY active boys who did not want to sit down for dinner and took great delight in not doing anything mommy asked. Halfway through dinner I paid the waitress, stuffed everyone's food in to go boxes, and we finished in our hotel room. Luckily the kids went to bed around 9 pm and I stayed up working on a magazine article about family road trips with children.


Wednesday we stopped in Georgia - only 30 minutes away from Jacksonville, but Christian had decided that he couldn't spend another minute in his car seat and since we weren't in a rush (my sister wasn't expecting us until Friday), I stopped. We had two good rest stop visits - one for lunch and one in the late afternoon. I had the kids running around for about 45 minutes each time and things went quite well. As the kids were all asleep by 8:30 pm I was feeling quite good - until I woke up around midnight with food poisoning. After spending 2+ hours in the hotel bathroom (being oh so thankful that I had chosen decent, clean hotels!), I decided that travelling alone with four young children just isn't for me.

Thursday we didn't leave until noon as I was still feeling a bit under the weather. We crossed the Florida border and I thought about heading to a hotel on the beach so I could relax and let the kids play on the seashore. Then, reality hit - I wouldn't be relaxing on the beach, I'd be running all around making sure one stopped throwing sand, no one was going too deep into the water, etc. What I needed was a family-friendly stop where I could relax and the kids could play. I grabbed my cell phone and called Disney. They had an opening that night in the All Star Movie resort and so I booked it. It was exactly what we needed! The kids were excited to see Mickey everywhere, it didn't matter if they were loud in the food court - because all the other kids were loud, and they spent a ton of time and energy walking all around the hotel and playing in the playground. It was fabulous. Both boys were asleep by 8:30 pm and the girls and I watched Princess Diaries in bed and then fell right to sleep when it was over. Oh, I do so love Disney!

Andy got in fine Saturday - I was so glad to see him! We have spent a wonderful weekend visiting my family and a dear friend from college, Michele (and her mother and almost 6-year-old daughter). I even got a 6 mile run/walk in - my first in two weeks. The weather has been perfect here - in the 60s with lots of sun.

We leave for Ft. Wilderness tomorrow. I'll post next week on how camping with four small children in a tent goes. Well, camping at Disney - how hard could that be?

... to be continued...

On Classical Literature and Parenting...

Well, I've been sick this week. I was fighting a wicked (because I'm a New Englander now) head cold on Sunday, and lost Monday morning. Lost is being kind. My but was handed to me on a silver platter. I was feeling so great, eating well, running, taking my vitamins, then WHAM! I "gentle" reminder that something so small it can only be seen by a high-powered microscope can stop me in my tracks and I shouldn't take feeling healthy for granted. I have been a slug for four days now. I haven't left the house since coming home from church on Sunday. I've been lucky in that it wasn't the flu, but it has worn me out just the same.

Good news is that I devoured To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in high school, but didn't remember much about it. I really enjoyed using this illness as an excuse to spend a little time each day reading on the sofa while the kids played. The book was so much better then I remembered. It left me feeling "well fed" - just like I always feel after reading a good book or watching a good play (normally Shakespeare or Austin). I've just started The House of the Seven Gables by Hawthorne, but am looking for recommendations on additional classic literature to read next. I've got a pretty good library of the classics (it's the foundation of my home schooling), but I haven't read all of them. Let me know what some of your favorites are - if I don't have them I can get them from the library.

Another thing I've worked on this week (mind was working - I was just too tired to actually DO anything) was updating my list of "Life Skills" I have for the kids. I read a FANTASTIC book last fall, The Parenting Breakthrough, by Merrilee Browne Boyack. I picked it up at a Time Out for Women conference. It was exactly what I needed. I took her list of what she wanted her kids to learn at a certain age, and created my own. I'm really happy with it. I couldn't figure out how to attach a file, so you can find my list in the blog below this one called "The Brown Family List of Life Skills." I wanted to post it separately so that this posting didn't get insanely long. Please feel free to use it to get ideas for your own list - and by all means, pick up Boyack's book. It tells you how to go about teaching these wonderful skills to your kids - and how to enlist the help of others.

Keep reading - and share what you've learned with me!

The Brown Family List of Life Skills

Skills to Live an Independent and Successful Life
Three Years-old
Dress self
Use toilet independently
Beginning to brush teeth
Pick-up toys
Say prayers

Four Years-old
Brush teeth
Make bed
Make own breakfast
Make sandwiches
Beginning to clean room

Five Years-old
Straighten room
Vacuum
Empty garbage cans
Set table
Empty dishwasher
Make own lunch
Clean sinks
Run microwave
Warm-up canned food
Get allowance

Six Years-old
Take shower
Dust
Floss teeth
Load dishwasher
Water plants
Make and answer calls
Do own hair
Read with comprehension
Memorize phone number and address
Participate in team sports or clubs
Know Articles of Faith
Begin piano lessons

Seven Years-old
Wash dishes
Pull weeds
Have a savings account
Clean mirrors
Read scriptures daily
Play musical instrument
Mop floor

Eight Years-old
Groom nails and hair
Get up by self
Develop personal talents
Get baptized
Care for pet
Wash car
Vacuum interior of car
Wrap presents
Sew on buttons
Hammer nails
Saw wood
Understand basic nutrition

Nine Years-old
Clean pictures
Bake cookies
Bake cakes
Understand emergency preparedness
Learn basic first aid
Fill car with gas
Write letters
Use e-mail
Clean stove
Plant plants

Ten Years-old
Do own laundry completely
Set personal goals
Maintain personal journal participate in exercise program
Rent videos
Clean oven
Bake pies
Make several kinds of salad
Use leaf blower
Place a collect call
Use a pay hone
Place a long distance call
Write creatively
Plan meals
Clean cupboards

Eleven Years-old
Arrange for own hair cuts
Clean refrigerator
Straighten drawers
Straighten closets
Sew hems
Bake bread
Make several main dishes
Iron own clothes
Mow lawn
Use weed whacker
Maintain garden
Place credit-card call
Start basic mission preparation
Use a camera
Learn to crochet or knit
Participate in first aid training
Take a baby-sitting class
Clean windows
Use Internet (with parents)

Twelve Years-old
Shop for clothing
Have basic fashion awareness
Plan wardrobe
Read newspaper
Speak in public
Understand weight control
Make and keep dentist appointment
Make and keep doctor appointment
Keep personal calendar
Understand basic filing
Use common computer programs
Order something by phone
Order something by mail
Order something by internet
Read Book of Mormon through
Attend Priesthood or Young Women activities
Check fluids in car
Paint interior and/or exterior of house
Baby-sit
Mend clothing

Thirteen Years-old
Sew simple items
Shop for clothing and other items
Find bargains
Plan parties
Have own recipe files
Shop for groceries
Care for plants
Keep a simple budget
Pay household bills
Use ATM
Certify for CPR
Type without looking
Go to movies without parent
Understand prescriptions
Learn meat-handling rules
Learn etiquette rules
Sell items on internet

Fourteen Years-old
Do basic interior decorating
Understand basics of food storage
Memorize social security number
Understand and use a debit card
Learn interest, debt, securities
Learn about make-up
Identify business skills to get some experience with sales
Learn basic civics and politics
Accompany parent to vote
Perform thorough car detailing
Change flat tire
Understand basics of car operation
Do simple household repairs
Put up wallpaper
Memorize seminary scriptures

Sixteen Years-old
Get driver’s license
Understand credit cards
Learn retirement plans
Resume mission preparation
Understand interviewing
Understand advertising
Start career planning
File insurance claim
Arrange for car insurance
Perform household repairs
Assist in purchase of car
Open checking account
File tax return
Deal with auto mechanic
Plan landscaping
Pay for and use cell phone
Get a job