Guest Blogger: Kristi from Mama of the Fisch

Today's guest blogger is Kristi from Mama of the Fisch. She is momma to Brady, who is 21 months old, and has a baby girl due the first week of September! She lives in Chicago, and grew up about an hour from where I live- in the town I attended college in! She is a high school teacher as well- bless her soul! After being an aid in a grade school, I know that high school students are just not my calling! Here is her take on commuting with a toddler- something that her and Kim have in common!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Commute

With a month left of the school year, our beloved nanny up and quit. My first reaction was, “Oh _____.  What now?”  We had options. Try to hire another nanny, ask our out of town parents to step up for a month and babysit or switch to daycare.  We labored over our decision.  We decided the best choice for our family was the daycare at my high school.

I live in the city of Chicago and teach 12 miles north in an affluent suburb. 

My commute used to be “me time”.

In the mornings, I would leave the house around 6:45.  I would choose what to listen to.  Some days it was the news on NPR, other days I would rock out to Taylor Swift and most days I drove in silence.  I would stop daily at my Starbucks, and call my mama each morning to discuss the day ahead.  My car equaled my time.

In the afternoons, I would call my mama for a recap or a friend for some laughs and drive home anticipating seeing my toddler and hearing about his day. I would spend that time in the car, shifting gears from teacher mode to mama mode. My car equaled my time.

It was lovely, really lovely.

Then, on May 16^th it came to tragic, sudden end.  My toddler started commuting with me TO AND FROM school. Most of you would say, “Kristi, it was only 12 miles”.  And my response, “Live in the city of Chicago for one week, no one day, drive on our expressways and then tell me about the 12 short miles.” 

You think you know, but you have no idea.

The Sunday night before, I laid out a timeline and a plan for Operation Commute with Toddler.

I didn’t sleep.

The first day the commute didn’t go well. Not the ride there and the ride home was worse.

But, we survived the month and both lived to tell about it.

What I learned in that one short month:

·       My car would now double as a moving convenience store. Teddy Grahams, 100 Calorie Packs Fudge Cookies, Annie Organic Snack Bunnies, Reduced Fat Cheez-Its and Jelly Bellys, when absolutely necessary are on the menu and will be served at 3:45pm sharp.

·       A sippy cup is necessary. It better be cold and full of something other than water or it will either be thrown on the floor or directly at your head.

·       I am a pro at the over the shoulder food toss. Who knew toddlers become starving the minute you put them in the car? Waffles, pop tarts, and breakfast bars have all been chucked from the driver’s seat back to the toddler’s car seat in the morning and when they say “more” they mean it.

·       Never hand your toddler your Starbucks card/MasterCard. They will master rolling the back window down in the drive thru and then throw it out the window, all while you are in line begging for a sip of your beloved caffeinated drink that you once drank in total silence.

·        Get a DVD player. The angels of silence came upon my car the day it was installed. I beg to hear Mickey’s voice when I get in the car and pray the episode doesn’t end before we get home. You can judge me all you want but that DVD player means more than me than anyone will ever know.

The best part, we will add an infant to the mix in a few short months. Maybe we need find a realtor and start thinking about moving? Right now, I am celebrating summer and the fact that I rarely have to commute with my toddler.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------