The Wilson's don't start anything they aren't willing to finish...multiple times. Max's dad has a JD (law), his mom has an EdD (education), Max has a masters in biology and is working towards a PhD in Biology and his sister, Amanda, JUST got her PhD in Chemistry. They are a family of smarty pants.
Having known Max and his family through his mom's EdD, Max's undergrad, masters, and now PhD, and Amanda's undergrad and PhD I can tell you it takes a lot. They are the most persevering, dedicated, goal oriented, bunch of crazy people I know.
And we are so proud of Amanda. So much so that we packed the whole family up and flew out to Houston to watch her graduate at Rice University.
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| Sorry about the poor quality. A picture with a cranky toddler in the Texas heat doesn't lend itself to high quality :) |
So I have a few tips on how to take your 2 year old on a "family vacation" and attend a very important graduation.
1. FAMILY FRIENDLY - try to stay somewhere that loves kids. I mean really loves kids. You'll be there awhile and they are going to make a lot of noise. We all stayed in an AirBNB house on the beach in Galveston. This was perfect and I'm so grateful my mother-in-law thought about it. Our neighbors weren't close enough to hear Jack cry in the middle of the night and the beach was a great outlet for Jack to run off energy. With big events planned daily for the graduation having somewhere were he could let loose and run off steam was amazing! Plus who doesn't love seeing their kid enjoy the ocean for the first time. It was so much fun!
2. BE FLEXIBLE - There are going to be a ton of plans, opinions, and stress so try to go with the flow as much as possible. We nodded and did what we were told. If Jack missed a nap, o'well. If he took 8 because he fell asleep every time we got in the car even better! We ate french fries and beef jerky and dry cereal for a snack and lunch, who cares. No toddler has ever died from eating french fries as a meal. It's only a long weekend everything will be ok. That holy grail of a routine you keep is going out the window and you need to cope with that. For example; Jack slept the whole way from the rental house to the ceremony which was about an hour and a half. So once we got there he was ready to go! He wanted to run and play and do all the toddler things. But we needed him to be quite and sit in his seat....not going to happen. There was luckily a tv and an empty room just outside the hall so we could take Jack out to run and still watch what was going on. Max took the brunt of the Jack watching because it was getting too hard to keep up with him at 17 weeks pregnant. Then once it came time for Amanda I snuck out and traded places so he could enjoy his sister's special moment. As Jack and I stood in the wings of the hall waiting for Amanda to appear he started to whine. I quickly asked him "whats wrong?". He promptly and loudly said "POOP!". Awesome. Some poor person's video recording of their son/daughter has Jack screaming poop in the background. Go.with.the.flow.
3. TAKE A VILLAGE - No matter how you feel about your in-laws, parents, extended family etc. you will need a village. A large village. You're 2 year old will scream "NOOOOO" several times, mostly for no reason. They will ask to go places that they just asked to leave. They will want to walk and be held at the same time. They will want to look out the window at the airport but not the one near all your luggage but the one across the airport near the ramp with the plane that's boarding. They will want to frantically run the halls and cry. They will want a fresh clean diaper right in the middle of graduation but not bad enough to hold still as you wrangle them on the dirty bathroom floor because for some god forsaken reason that women's bathroom doesn't have a changing table. They will only sit still for food and electronics which you can't dole out too much because they will have zero affect on their attention when you finally get to your destination. This is why it's important to have someone who can walk the halls, can carry them to and from the beach multiple times, who can hold them, and who can play games to grab their attention. You will need someone at some point so it might as well be someone you know. Because at your lowest and most burnt out you contemplate strangers, and how bad can they really be? This is not good. So you're village, no matter their relation, is super helpful but use them wisely you will call on them many many times.
But most of all enjoy. You don't get to "vacation" very much these days so soak up every ray of sunshine and peaceful, giggle filled moment you get.
