Our Chicago Holiday Road Trip by the Numbers

We spent 4 wonderful days with Pa's family in Chicago over Christmas. It had been 2 1/2 years since we had last been up there. Most of Pa's family had not met Mr. Garvey, Mary, or Miss Almanzo. We had not met Baby W. Pa's family planned so many fun activities for all of the kids (9 in all). We had a cookie baking and decorating day at the Fuzzies' house and an ornament making party at cousin A's house and a birthday party for cousin G. There was lots and lots of delicious food and conversation. On the flip side, hopefully we did not create too much chaos or stress for anyone as we are quite a large bunch to have descend upon you especially when the option of sending the kids outside to play is pretty much non-existent.

The Trip Up to Chicago

800: miles driven between Chicago and South Carolina

0: extra seats in the van

1: number of times we almost ran out of gas while travelling through the section of the NC mountains with no gas station exits for about 30 miles.

2: how many times we looked like the southerners that we are by playing in the small remaining piles of snow at two Indiana rest stops.

1: number of other large trans-racial adoptive families we ran into in the middle of nowhere Indiana. (It was kind of surreal. They were a very nice family from Nashville with 3 bio boys, a daughter from China, and 2 daughters from Liberia.)

14.5: hours of music loaded into my iPod. Just enough to get us there without repeating any songs.

5: number of above songs with explicit lyrics that Pa and I forgot about. (oops!)

Weather in Chicago

50: degrees F the temperature dropped in our first 12 hours in Chicago.

40: increase in wind speed (mph) in our first 12 hours in Chicago.

2: hours the nestlings will stay outside in 25 degree weather with 40 mph winds and a couple piles of snow.

1: hours Pa was willing to stay outside in the above conditions.

0: hours Ma was willing to stay outside in the above conditions.

Accommodations

5: nights spent in a hotel

4: number of beds

5: different sleeping combinations of 7 people in the above 4 beds for 5 nights.

3: number of times I awoke to find by pregnant self squished between Pa and any one of the given 5 nestlings.

4: number of nights Mr. Edwards woke me with fears of spider bites, poison, or nerve gas.

0: number of nights Ma got a full night's sleep

Lego Store

00 (infinite): how far a posh Michigan Avenue shopping center, with a much coveted Lego store, is from Mary, Miss Almanzo, and Mr. Garvey's village of Lafto Lenka in Ethiopia

5: combined minutes it took Mr. Laura, Miss Almanzo, and Mr. Edwards to select their Lego purchases.

40: combined minutes it took Mary and Mr. Garvey to select their Lego purchases.

Ethiopian Food

12: number of Ethiopians we met at an Ethiopian restaurant

12: number of Ethiopians who repeatedly told Pa and I "Thank you. Thank you for what you've done."

3: number of nestlings who moaned and ooohed and aaahed and ate themselves sick on the delicious Ethiopian food.

2: number of adults who did the same.

1: number of nestlings who left the Ethiopian restaurant hungrier than when he got there. (That would be Mr. Laura - he is such a picky, picky eater. Plus he knew there would be cookies at the ornament making party at cousin A's house.)

7: number of times our Ethiopian children tried to get our server to bring them bunna (coffee).

7: number of times our server told our Ethiopian children it was not good for them to drink bunna.

Behavior and Good Times

5: number of extremely well-behaved nestlings.

2: number of nestlings who wanted to be left in Chicago with Pa's family. (That would be Mr. Edwards and Mary. Saying good-bye was difficult for both of them.)

The Trip Home

0: cubic inches of cargo volume remaining in the van for the trip home.

3: number of traffic jams we sat in on our way home.

3: hours late we were getting home.

3643: number of times Mr. Laura said, "oh my butt hurts" on the last 2 hours of the trip.

0: number of times Pa and I wished we had DVD or video game capability in the car.

1: number of times the nestlings bickered with each other.

18: hours the kids kept themselves busy in the van with made up games, reading, writing, and drawing.

2: number of times someone said they were bored.

The Good Memories

562: number of times Baby Walker's name has been mentioned since we left Chicago.

642: number of times the nestlings have asked when will we be going back to Chicago to see everyone.

Home Sweet Home

5: loads of laundry done after we returned home.

2: hours it took to clean the van.

Spankings or "The Naughty List": The Great Debate (hypothetically speaking)

A few nights before Christmas, Mr. Laura, Mr. Garvey and I were sitting at the kitchen table making ornaments. Mr. Laura brought up the topic of who's nicer Ma and Pa or Santa. With a few questions from me, this started a debate between Mr. Laura and Mr. Garvey.

Mr. Laura: I think Santa is the nicest person in the whole world. Ma and Pa are second.

Ma: What makes Santa so nice?

Mr. Laura: He brings us presents every year.

Ma: What about that naughty list? That doesn't sound too nice.

Mr. Laura: Yeah but he doesn't whip us.

Ma: When is the last time you were spanked*?

Mr. Laura: I don't get spankings.

Mr. Garvey: I think parents are nicer because they only spank you. Santa won't bring you any gifts. That's mean.

Ma: But we've never hit you.

Mr. Garvey: I know, but if you did that would be better than not getting presents.

Mr. Laura: I still think Santa is nicer.

I find it interesting to note their positions in light of their vastly different backgrounds up until the last 18 months. For Mr. Garvey, physical punishment was common and material goods scarce when he lived in Ethiopia. Mr. Garvey is nothing if not careful with his things. He keeps everything organized and becomes upset if he loses or breaks anything. He sees the idea of Santa withholding gifts as unforgivable because he so cherishes everything that is his. On the other hand, Mr. Laura who has grown up in the land-of-plenty (or should I say the land-of-too-much) and scarce physical punishment takes the opposite view. I think he believes that if he were to get on the "naughty list" and not receive gifts that eventually there would be more. He doesn't see his supply of goods threatened or scarce at all. For him, the idea of physical punishment is more unforgivable.

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*In the spirit of full disclosure, Mr. Laura went through a very frustrating phase as a 2 and 3 year old where he would bite Mr. Edwards, often drawing blood. It would not be unusual for Mr. Edwards to have 4 or 5 bite marks on his body at any given time. After many other failed attempts to curb this behavior, I did resort to giving him a pop on his bottom or hand. It was not effective in the least. What finally worked was Mr. Edwards becoming frustrated enough with being Mr. Laura's personal human chew toy that he bit Mr. Laura back. And so ended the biting.