Promises Promises

By Saturday night our containment problem had become so dire that the chairman of British Petroleum called to offer his condolences.

First I tried putting Caroline into a summer-weight sleep sac that we had been using for Edward, safety-pinned at the back to make the neck hole small enough that she couldn't slither out. Five seconds after I shut the door she undid the safety pins and leapt to freedom. Then I pulled out another light sleep sac one-size-too-small and tried again. She couldn't get out of the sac but she was able to climb out of the crib regardless. So I hand-sewed two new seams into the sac such that it resembled a mermaid gown in the tradition of a pink butterflied Morticia. She could barely move her toes; however, she escaped anyway and brought one of the shelves from the book shelf down on her head a minute later. She cried. By this point it was almost midnight and I was feeling a little desperate so I said, FINE, you're going to be a little warm tonight and encased her in the midget quilted Grobag she used last winter that had been keeping her in her crib for months. Sleep well, I said. OK Mommy, she said. Then she gripped the crib rail and vaulted over, which was actually pretty impressive and which is why I found myself unplugging all the pluggables, stripping the bookcase and inflating the toddler aerobed for her at two in the morning.

Round one pretty much went to Caroline.

The next day I decided to get a crib tent per your recommendation but decided that my more pressing concern was the trip. I had been thinking that Caroline would sleep in a pack n play but clearly I was delusional. Caroline wasn't going to be restrained by a goddamned pack n play - Caroline wouldn't be restrained by fucking Alcatraz. A pack n play tent, I realized, was needed immediately which is when I discovered that the only item designed for this purpose is currently on backorder everywhere on the planet.

Gaaaaaaarrrrrhhhhh and I imagined the entire family in floods of tears in the middle of the night as the people in the hotel room next to ours banged on the walls and Caroline perched on top of a wardrobe lobbing toiletries at us. 

Then I stumbled across links to the Kidco Peapod. It is like a tiny indoor tent with its own air mattress and mostly mesh sides that pops opens and zips shut. I put Caroline in the car and went to more Babies R Us'es than I ever want to see in my life again (why are Babies R Us employees so universally crabby? is it all the baby registrants they have to deal with?) until we found one that had two in stock (I figured Edward will eventually want whatever Caroline has) and this is the part where the heavenly hosts descend and you note that I am bathed in a golden light because

 

Caroline loves her new nylon sarcophagus SO MUCH (that is a big girl bed in the background - Patrick upgraded to a spare double bed from the basement and she inherited his.) My only regret is that this item didn't exist when Patrick was a baby and we used to really travel. It weighs next to nothing, folds up the size of a big fat frisbee and makes the ol' Pack n Play feel like you were carrying around a suit of armor.

But that is not what I wanted to tell you and this is not even a post because I have too much to do to be frittering time on the internet. No, I am writing because I wanted to give you a dowloadable link to the giant slightly weird I Spy list we created. Here you go. Also a neatly typed list of the states and provinces for the license plate game here although I just noticed that the check boxes I so laboriously created in Word seem to have disappeared in google. Oh well. It is the thought that counts. At some point let me know how many you find and I'll do the same.

I shall update from the road at which point I expect to be all Canadian; so basically a tidier, more polite version of me.

PS Any thoughts on where to stop and burn off energy half-way between Sudbury and Ottawa? Algonquin? Please advise.

PPS I wrote this while Caroline and Edward were napping and just went up to discover that Caroline was not napping at all having managed to unzip the Peapod from the inside. She is unbelievable. I still love the Peapod, though. And safety pins.

 

Comments

[Chris]

This has probably already been mentioned, but I am sure C and E know their colors. I printed maps with the state outlines and names and colored each state we would be in a different color. We had a big party at each state line crossing. It wasted some time and the kids can now identify each of those states on a map. I am sure Patrick would roll his eyes at this, but he'll be lost in a book anyway. :)

[kim]

I have a two year old houdini that started at 20 months. He loved the crib tent, until he destroyed the zipper two days ago (it separated, and never recovered). His twin brother has shown no interest in escaping or having his own tent....may have to try the peapod, but I just hate the idea of more crap covering the floors.

btw, for twins, I must recommend this diner http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019SISHE/ref=oss_product. It's actually smaller than most of the play kitchens out there and it's just so awesome! And yes, I see the irony in my "covering floors" comment and my love of the diner.

[Abby]

I <3 Caroline. She's absolutly, totally awesome! Have a great trip.

[Jan]

I hope that you *don't* look at these before you go -- must be all frenzy at this point -- but Patrick might, for our benefit, add to the list anything unusual or interesting that he sees along the way. Bon voyage!

[Jan]

oh, sorry, I mean I do hope you see the comments about where to stop between Sudbury and Ottawa...

[Kathryn Jaehnig]

Julia, please bring Patrick to Southern Illinois, where he can cross "giant cross" off his list....
http://www.baldknobcross.com/

He could also canoe through a "cypress swamp" (yes, in Illinois!), though I realize it's not on his list....
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r5/cachervr.htm

I'm old enough to be your mom (and your tribe's Nana), but I so enjoy your account of your life -- and your infinitely polite commenters. This must be the most civilized place on the Web.

Safe traveling, the five of you.

[Callie]

I don’t speak from any kind of experience at all since my almost-two-year-old (next week! wah!) has slept in bed with us from day one, but I think there might be something to the idea that she likes the challenge of escaping, and if it weren’t a challenge, it would cease to be exciting and she would just sleep. If Cash wakes up, he makes no attempt to get out of the bed, he just whines a little so I know he’s awake and I go in and lay with him until he falls back to sleep. He’s never slept anywhere where he was confined, so it hasn’t occurred to him to try and “break free” so to speak. Anyway, whatever happens, I hope you have a great trip! And you know, they make really big dog crates these days… :)

[Fakey]

Every time you tell a Caroline story, one word comes to my mind: formidable.

Girl knows what she wants and she gets it. She will not be thwarted!

We have a peapod bed too, but Girlie does not like it very much. Maybe she'll like it better if I call it a sarcophagus. Better yet, I could break out the bedazzler (that I have in my dreams) and really ancient-egyptian it up. She's a big fan of shiny and sparkly things.

[maria]

how about just a mattress on the floor with consistent instructions to sleep there? she is definitely old enough for that. seems like she is just enjoying all your efforts to contain her and some of these tactics seem downright unsafe.

[melody]

So I just scanned the comments, and saw the suggestions for a stop in Mattawa - good choice. I'm originally from Manitoulin Island (parents still live there), currently live in Sudbury, work three days/week out of North Bay, and previously lived just outside of Ottawa (beautiful place called Fitzroy Harbour; lovely provincial park with a great beach on the Ottawa River). I've travelled this road with three kids in tow many, many times (even done it all by myself!). Our plan was to always hit the North Bay mall (just off highway 17 at Fisher Street, you can't miss it) for lunch - there is a family bathroom in the food court area, and the kids took a run in the mall, then hit the road for a longer afternoon drive. Its only 3.5 hours or so to Ottawa from North Bay.
I agree with a previous poster that the Mattawa picnic area is good if the weather cooperates.
Algonquin Park isn't really on your way - it is huge, and I always felt like I was driving way, way out of the direct route the handful of times I've gone through there. If you aren't planning on staying at the park, you really don't need to go that direction.
Enjoy your time in Northeastern Ontario! This is the place that I love most in the whole world!
Be sure to check out Science North or the Big Nickel mine in Sudbury, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization (with the Children's Museum) while in Ottawa!

[LMM]

So I've read all these posts about securing the zippers together from the outside and all I can picture right now is Caroline rolling down the hall in the peapod, treating it much like one would a hamster ball. Hee.

[Alice]

Are you using normal safety pins, or baby safety pins? Those baby safety pins are hard for me to get open, so color me impressed if she can get them open...
http://www.amazon.com/36-Full-Size-Diaper-Pins/dp/B002HESHKW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1276038649&sr=8-1

[Mrs. G]

We once borrowed a peapod from some friends and couldn't get it folded back up again. We spent an entire week asking various guests and acquaintances to try to put it back together. Total nightmare. But I still think it's cool and the perfect thing for you families with good spacial skills.

[Christine]

We have peapods for our triplets and love them. The kids are 4.5 years now and still sleeping in them on trips (for convenience at this point rather than containment). Wish we had skipped pack and plays altogether.

Someone asked about breathability - the main opening has a screen flap and also a solid fabric flap. You can zip closed only the screen and roll up the solid panel to allow more air in there. They do get a bit warm inside but if you have a fan going the child inside would be able to feel it. There's also a large window on the side opposide the "door" and a smaller window on each of the ends. If you roll up the solid fabric flap on all these you have breathable screen panels on all 4 sides of the tent to allow for plenty of air movement. I hope this helps!

-Christine

[craftyashley]

I had a thought about "locking" the pea pod. Zip ties? The only way to get them off is to use scissors. Just make sure there are a pair of scissors near by at all times? (ha! babyproofing idea for ya- scissors everywhere!)
So sorry the pack n play crib tents were on backorder!

[Heather]

You are hilarious and "clearly delusional"!

The company I work with just made and delivered artificial turf to a field in Sudbury, James Jerome Sports Complex?

Either way, just coincidental. Hell, I live in GA.

[Sonya]

I had two escape artists. They both only lasted 15-16 months in the crib as they would throw themselves over the side. I caught my youngest trying ot get cookies out of the top cupboard at 11 months having pushed a chair to the coune, climbed on the counter and was hanging off the shelves. Good times.

Anyway.. I put them in beds at silly young ages but my trick was to put one of these plastic safety handles over the inside of the door handle. It requires a lot of hand force to push down and turn the handle; in little hands it just spins. That way the could get out of bed and get toys or books but could not roam freely about the house or down stairs. Found something similar on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mommys-Helper-Door-Safety-Cover/dp/B000MF518O.

Good news is they outgrew the escape artist tricks - although a few years later they both went to circus camp!

[Cat]

In defence of Cobden!

They have a deli called the something something "meatery". Its on the highway on your right across from the Shell station. It is AMAZING. We stopped there - I was in the washroom changing my daughter and my husband banged on the door and told me he was taking over because I had to eat my roast beef sandwich while it was still hot b/c it was so good.

Also - in Deep River there is Indian food in a restaurant called "Restaurant" attached to the Petro Can. You have to ask for the Indian menu.

Also - I live in North Bay. If you want a real break and its a weekend you can come to the carousels. Take the Algonquin exit go to Jane street turn right then left on Murray which will take you to the carousel. Its a small town and so while this seems like it would take a long time - it takes - like ten minutes. Also its fun, also one of the carousels has woodland creatures and the were all made by people in town. If its not a weekend you can come to our house and play in the backyard! I'm not kidding - we'll show you a good time!

feel free to write for more details.

[victoria]

I second and third the twist-ties on the outer zipper suggestion. We have this tent, and it is awesome, and I only WISH my kid would sleep in it. On the other hand, it's big enough for us to keep trying for a while longer, as my kid's just a month older than the twinkles.

Good luck. Our little road trip experiment suggests that stopping at rest areas is a Great Idea. I didn't even have to bust out the all-new-to-her Colorforms, we did so well on our way out. On the other hand, we did listen to ten hours straight of opera. Music soothes the savage breast and all that, but the kid's classical kick is exhausting.

[winecat]

Of course she unzipped it from the inside. You gave her a challenge and she rose to the occasion. Soon she will be leaping tall buildings in a single bound. : )