The morning after school ended, we departed bright and early for my parents’ cabin on the border of Georgia and North Carolina. Yes, the two share a border. No, don’t fact check me now.
Unfortunately, because of the size of our family and all the items we needed to haul up there, we needed to take two vehicles, leaving me less capability to entertain the children on the drive. They are at an age where they won’t fall asleep in the car, are too old for toys, and still need regular roadside stops. Then they have this mother that is opposed to electronic babysitters when she is otherwise occupied.
It makes for a stressful time, all 13 hours of it.
The race is always on to get to one location about 45 minutes prior to our final destination: Mountain Fresh Creamery. Usually, I have meals prepped so that when we arrive at the cabin, there is still a home-cooked meal just a few minutes away while they settle in, or, more likely, run around like crazy to stretch their legs and explore a bit. Now it’s debatable – should I really give my children ice cream 45 minutes before cooking dinner? How many parents do I have cringing out there right now?
From what I’ve learned, summer is really a time to lighten up a bit. After all, I have my own set of rules of summer that I abide by and most of them involve giving my children all the joyous extras they will only appreciate when they are little. And ice cream to cap off an almost complete road trip is one of them.