One of Colin’s and my favorite things to do is a road trip.

We are at our most relaxed on the way to somewhere, with him driving, and me organizing whatever podcast or playlist or wrong turn is up next.

Our first road trip, en masse however, had me on edge. I had sweet-fond memories of long car trips with my own brothers and sisters when we were young, but I was a happy passenger. No planning required. I know Colin and his family drove across Canada as well (in the winter!) and arrived with some of the best family memories ever, including the image of their family cat running away across the plains.

It’s different when you are in the front seat. You have a better view, and less likely to get car sick. But on our shoulders is the job of making sure everyone is happy.

Highway 12 through the Adirondacks helped. And the snack bag. And Colin’s joy behind the wheel. And easy going kids.

7 hours down. 17 to go.

So I’m just emptying the dishwasher this morning and number one son runs out the the kitchen and says:

“Mom! I just saw this guy on TV! He says he can finish your basement!”

“Oh yeah?”

My mind is spinning. I start to do the math. Local news is on. Commercial jingles ring. TiVo has made my children Commercial-illiterate.  (good) Son thinks man on remodel commercial is talking to him!

“Yeah!” he says excited, but matter-of-fact. “He can put in walls and floors and toys and even a tree!”

“A tree!?”

“Not the big kind, Mom. Just the plant kind.”

It’s easy to cast your eyes away from so-called “failures” when you live with them everyday.Kids are great at reminding us of them in so many hilarious ways.

OK, so yes, I suppose we have some excuses for not getting our projects done around here…oh yeah, like having four new people coming to live with us and having to rearrange every part of our life to make room for them.

The hardest part of that is seeing the death of our “free” time. This year we did in fact get the garden put in again (more on that next post), but our house is literally backlog of unfinished projects that make living here an often less-than-fulfilling experience for Colin and I. Take a walk around and you can see where the time dried up.

The regret at this unfinished life has its own happy countenance.

Yes, of course we love running around with the family to soccer and swimming lessons, to grocery stores and baseball. But as a result, Colin can’t spend a full day installing drywall or skylights. And, of course sitting together with our feet in the sandbox is exactly what is needed right now… it just means one or even two less pairs of hands to clear out the mess at the back of the garage,  to tend to the overgrowth around the pine trees, or to finish the half-done basement.

And, yes, we do get the kids involved in some of the work. They helped me get the garden in this year. But nail guns aren’t quite their speed yet.

Suffice to say, the kids don’t go into the magical mystery basement– it’s just the doorway that mom and dad disappear into occasionally to bring up laundry or tools. But they know about it. They can peek down there and see the workbench mess and the half-completed walls. And while we keep most things under control in the rest of the house, it’s telling that behind this door (and one upstairs too!) Colin and I stash and hide our piles of messy unfinished business.

It reflects the diabolical impact their arrival had on our lives 14 months ago.  But it also reminds me, too, of all the things we are willing to put aside to just spend an hour, a day, a week, a year with them. Doing whatever.

(Overheard)

Daughter 2: What can the man build down there???

Son: Yeah, even a pool, and couches, and windows, and a tank!

Wow there is SO much “content” out there in the World (Wide Web) to inform, amuse, and berate today’s parent.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Some of it is actually useful. Such as the answers to basic questions like “Which end is up, again?”  “Will it ever stop pooping?” and the classic follow up, “Will the poop ever make it to the toilet bowl?”

The BEST part about parenting website, blogs, advice columns and books is the one inherent truth in parenting: all parents simultaneously feel like a big fat failure in child raising while also believing that they are 100 percent right about their parenting method.

So basically, reading parenting tips is like self-flagellation that has been outsourced.

The breadth of knowledge we have available only leads me to believe we might actually be approaching the end of the world, led by a pack of rabid Moms who all insist that Their Child is “Gifted.”

They will only shortly be followed by the Homeschoolers, Welfare Moms/Dads with More Than Four Kids, and Perpetual Playdaters.

Is it spring yet?

… that Colin and I are NOT YET with children. I mean, you can look everywhere around our house for kids and all you will find is one very strange cat who will not, for any reason, allow you to pick her up.

The curious thing about being married in the suburbs in Connecticut and being of a certain age is that, well, there aren’t ANY other people around of your age. IF you don’t have children.

The people with children are definitely lurking about. I know this because I see schools and school buses, and I am teaching the grown-up version of their children. But I don’t ever see PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN. It’s as if they have been swallowed up into the parallel universe of KIDLAND.

It may be that they just don’t frequent the bars I hang out in. Or the kids aren’t fans of late night folk music and The Reader. I am not sure. I guess I can’t quite get a handle on it though.

Anyway, it’s no secret to most of you that Colin and I may soon be falling down the Rabbit Hole too. If I can, I’ll send postcards from the other side, and let you know where everyone went.