Parenting a toddler on Christmas while traveling means we get martinis at the finish line

I'm sure so many of you already are nodding your heads simply at the post title. If you've traveled on Christmas with a toddler (or two) you know exactly what I'm referring to. But for those of you who don't yet have a toddler, I'll fill you in.

Here's the background: we have families who each live south of us, so even though we didn't want to do an overnight, it made no sense not to. So we did one. Sleeping elsewhere wasn't the issue. It was this: we were away from home in two houses that are still a little unfamiliar and new and there was a total lack of routine. Both of these combined factors (which obviously apply to Cole and not to us) made for an exhausting Christmas.

It's nice in theory to hope that family members will help in the toddler chasing. But, in actuality, everyone is too preoccupied with talk, food, drink gifts, and the like to really pay close attention to Cole. Oh yes, they see his adorable smiles, his running and climbing antics, but to them it's cute, precious, and someone else's responsibility. Which is fine. Because they are right. He is our child, and our responsibility. We understand that. But that fact doesn't make it any less tiring.

And why is it so tiring? Because these homes are not childproofed. We love our families, but the suggestion "Well, just watch him and make sure that he______" just doesn't reassure us in any way.  This is because we then have to WATCH HIM LIKE A HAWK and not allow any of the following possibilities to fill in that blank: a) doesn't fall down the stairs b) doesn't break the glass Christmas tree or the ceramic trains or c) doesn't choke on the various assorted nuts in the several bowls within his reach. 

Basically, what this means for us is two things:

1) We must be prepared. We brought a tension gate and zip ties to make sure the gate stayed secured to wherever we placed it. We also brought sneakers so we could run and catch him from touching some breakable object or sticking his entire hand into the salsa bowl. We brought Cole's booster seat so when he ate he was restrained. Then we could take a breath and eat too.

2) Because we are so busy watching him like a hawk, we cannot truly enjoy our family. Even though it would be nice to switch who is in charge every half hour (which is what we originally said we'd do), in reality, five minutes feel like forever when you're chasing a toddler around a house that isn't yours. We kept switching back and forth so often (either because of lack of patience or just sheer exhaustion) that we rarely had full conversations with people.

This is why we decided two things:

a) We needed martinis (Keith made a delicious orange concoction yesterday afternoon that was to die for).

b) Because Thanksgiving and Christmas are so close together, we are going to alternate between the families from now on. So, for example, we will spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with his family one year and vice versa the next. That way we don't have to spend a stressful Christmas Eve morning packing the car while simultaneously complaining that we packed too much stuff. On the contrary, we can spend a relaxing Christmas Eve at home, knowing that Cole won't be destroying anything or hurting himself in any way that we haven't already thought of, and wake up in our own home with our own Christmas tree on the morning of Christmas Day. When all that is done, THEN we drive to see one of our two amazing families.

Without further adieu, here are the pictures from the Ferris Family Christmas 2011...

"Hmmm. What kind of trouble can I get into over there?"

"What else does she have in there?"

"Yeah, would ya hold on? I have another call comin' through!"

"Now if I could just climb up here, then I could reach the table, then...."
This is what we call Supervised Climbing, when really, it's one parent making a half-assed attempt at making him get down while the other parent takes a picture.

Keith says this photo captures exactly what he felt. In fact, he wants to make it his Facebook profile. 

"Gifts!"
Wherein Barney is really six inches tall and gift bags really do come in SUPER DUPER sizes.

Cole is in schoolbusvana.

"I'll sit down for a picture, sure. But that means you have to chase me for the next five minutes."

"Open! Open!" Keith and I are pretty sure the ties that keep children's toys in the box they come in were made by magicians.

The cracker bandit enjoying his loot.