Meltdown

In all of our travels over our "vacation/move" trip, there was only one emotional meltdown--and it turned out to be one of the adults!

On June 23rd, we were up at 3:30 AM to beat the crowd to Yosemite National Park, at Megan's suggestion. We ate breakfast in our room, since it was too early for the continental breakfast. (Also ate lunch in the car that day.) It was a full day. We toured Yosemite and Mono Lake (with tufa), toured Bodie, California, which is the largest intact ghost town anywhere. We were on the road for many hours that day, seeing wondrous sights and hoping it was just the beginning of a fun trip. By the time we reached our cabin for the night, the children were just about done in, as were we all. It was probably 10 or 10:30 before we found the place where we were to spend the night.

We were a party of five. Many motels won't let 5 in a room. Some will provide a rollaway bed; some won't. For those that won't, we had a pad and sleeping bag and pillow for the 5th member of our party--we thought Ryan, since he is a male and would (we thought) be the most adventurous. As it happens, Ryan is also the youngest and the one who is the most tuned in to what is fair and what isn't. He had spent the night before on a rollaway bed and decided that he wasn't going to sleep on the floor on the pad that night. He wanted a bed. He squawked about it.

Denis took offense. Being from Russia and having endured many situations in which he would have loved to have had a bed as nice as a rollaway--and maybe even a pad and sleeping bag on the floor--Den didn't like Ryan's attitude. Megan felt trapped by the fact that her youngest wasn't cooperating when she had worked so hard to plan for everything. (And therein lies the rub: Meg spent weeks planning the trip, booking the rooms, researching for bed bugs, figuring out the budget, working at her job, packing her apartment...as did Denis. Meg and Den were emotionally exhausted and probably not well equipped to deal with a 7-year-old. In Ryan's defense, he was also exhausted from our long/late flight to California and our early departure that day, with schedules disrupted and a 7-year-old mentality.) Megan flipped out. She decided that SHE would sleep in the van, since that would leave a place on a bed in the cabin, but it was 85 degrees outside and not conducive to sleep. She didn't have a nice thing to say to anyone. She was crying and Ryan was crying and I was trying to indicate that everyone just needed to get some sleep because everything would seem better in the morning. Denis was in the car trying to console Megan. I was in the cabin trying to figure things out and at the car trying to coax Megan in. Ryan was totally asleep before any of this was resolved, as I knew he would be. Finally, I looked at Robin and said, "Robin, will YOU sleep on the pad?" Without a blink, she said she would...and she did! This was a pattern that continued the whole rest of the trip. Robin slept on rollaways and on the floor pad. Ryan--even though he wanted to--was no longer given the option. He was stuck sleeping with Grandma, while Robin had her own space. I'm not sure she always wanted it, but she never complained and was willing to keep the peace by being the agreeable one. You go, Robin!

After Meg finally came back in the cabin and settled down, everyone fell instantly asleep, but Denis decided that he needed fresh air. (I don't blame him!) Unfortunately, he forgot to take the cabin key, and the door locked behind him. Here we were in a semi-desert area of Independence, California. Denis was fine outside until he began to think about snakes and scorpions and "ghoulies and ghosties and three-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night". He was knocking on the door, trying to be discrete, while the rest of us snoozed inside. Guess that went on for about 30 minutes before Meg heard it at the same time I did. Huh? When Meg let him in, he disrobed and gratefully slid into bed. What a long day!

On the entire rest of the trip, there were no more emotional meltdowns. We learned to gauge our feelings and eat/stretch/move on before anyone got too low on patience. I don't know of too many people who can endure an almost-three-week trip by vehicle, with kids, who can do that!