As a parent there are these milestone moments of achievement that you never forget. The first solo trip to the supermarket with a baby, the first successful swimming lesson with a baby, the first birthday party that goes without a hitch… these are all big deals at the time. This weekend I managed a new first: my first road trip alone with my girls.
Although I’ve taken them to my parents on my own before, that doesn’t really count because it’s only an hour away. This journey was a much bigger feat of success. It involved three hours driving through the pouring rain and fog on a Friday evening straight after school. Packing for a weekend away with a baby and a four year old is hard enough, let alone negotiating unfamiliar roads at the end of a long week. So I felt pretty chuffed – if mildly panicked – when I finally arrived at my sister’s door in Southampton with just 10 percent battery on my phone (thanks Google maps) and one bar of petrol.
My sister’s a doctor with busy shift patterns and I’m a working mum of two with a hectic life, plus we live three hours apart, so we don’t get to see a huge amount of each other. But when we do get together it’s lovely. As well as a reminder of what life was like before children (my sister tells me she often enjoys an impromptu breakfast in a local cafe with the papers on a Sunday morning – remember that?!) spending time with my sister is always full of laughs. She’s always been a hands-on aunty and she was actually with me throughout my labour with Frog, so she’s been there since day one – literally.
Anyway, the weekend looked like this:
Breakfast in the sunshine on the balcony, after a surprisingly peaceful nights’ sleep.
Watching Peppa Pig with Elsa, Anna and the star of the week school trophy (*proud mum alert*). Lucky her aunty has Milkshake on demand.
A day at Peppa Pig World (we survived!) which included multiple rides for the four year old, a picnic and only one tired tantrum. Result.
Staying up late refusing bedtime and trying to eat the grown-ups’ pizza.
The journey home today was less fun. Journeys home never are, are they? Still the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine was pleased to see us and admitted he actually missed the loudness while we were gone. Although he was less enthusiastic about our return after taking the girls to a birthday party on his own this afternoon so I could get some work done…
Anyway, mumchievement of the week is surviving six hours solo in the car with my girls, navigating an unfamiliar journey without getting lost and not turning to gin after seven hours of the Peppa Pig theme tune.
Tell me, what’s your mumchievement of the week?
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That is a brilliant mumchievement!! I’m going to be bringing all three of mine down to Devon to my Dad’s house in the summer and that length of car journey by yourself is a bit daunting so I’m wildly impressed and it looks like a wonderful weekend too!