We just returned from a wonderful vacation in the Smokies where we slept in a tent while the thermometer dipped into the low forties, almost lost our son to jagged rocks 500 feet beneath a waterfall and were accused of child abuse. Everyone got sick and I am still having nightmares about that waterfall. Then there are those 972 glorious miles that must be traversed in order to get there with children packed elbow to elbow.
Oh, to be young enough to still be in a car seat! Where your personal space is defended by a fortress of plastic.
But we managed to get there and back with only two major argments, both a slight variation of the familiar he-won't-stop-touching-me sort. Overall, our plan for remaining sociable on long car trips worked out rather well.
This vacation was not planned with educational objectives in mind. It was "just" vacation. I was not thinking about geography, geology, history, biology, etc., as we looked at maps, read guides and listened to presentations. Still, I would venture to guess that the only subjects that were neglected were spelling and math as my daughter was required neither to write nor figure for ten whole days.
Thanks to digital photography, we took nearly 1000 pictures, and while I will not subject you to all of them, I will share a few when we get home and I can get them loaded on our computer.
Since someone is bound to ask, the accusation was nothing serious. Our camping neighbors got upset when our two year old started crying (and wouldn't stop). Why he threw abuse into it, I don't know but he apologized later. It is funny how quickly anger can be diffused by something as simple as "I'm sorry." It is also frightening to think how easy it is to accuse someone of child abuse. Luckily, he never did call the authorities and I suspect that if he were at all honest, any sane worker would have dismissed the accusation. But you just never know.
We are not home yet but in the meantime, there is some survey thingy in my sidebar that I am supposed to encourage you to take. It is anonymous. And thank you to those of you who left links for me to read when I get back. I have not had time yet, but will in the next day or so. And you can still leave a link if you wish...or a second one.
Oh, to be young enough to still be in a car seat! Where your personal space is defended by a fortress of plastic.
But we managed to get there and back with only two major argments, both a slight variation of the familiar he-won't-stop-touching-me sort. Overall, our plan for remaining sociable on long car trips worked out rather well.
This vacation was not planned with educational objectives in mind. It was "just" vacation. I was not thinking about geography, geology, history, biology, etc., as we looked at maps, read guides and listened to presentations. Still, I would venture to guess that the only subjects that were neglected were spelling and math as my daughter was required neither to write nor figure for ten whole days.
Thanks to digital photography, we took nearly 1000 pictures, and while I will not subject you to all of them, I will share a few when we get home and I can get them loaded on our computer.
Since someone is bound to ask, the accusation was nothing serious. Our camping neighbors got upset when our two year old started crying (and wouldn't stop). Why he threw abuse into it, I don't know but he apologized later. It is funny how quickly anger can be diffused by something as simple as "I'm sorry." It is also frightening to think how easy it is to accuse someone of child abuse. Luckily, he never did call the authorities and I suspect that if he were at all honest, any sane worker would have dismissed the accusation. But you just never know.
We are not home yet but in the meantime, there is some survey thingy in my sidebar that I am supposed to encourage you to take. It is anonymous. And thank you to those of you who left links for me to read when I get back. I have not had time yet, but will in the next day or so. And you can still leave a link if you wish...or a second one.
