** there is an honest to goodness question at the end of this rant. feel free to skip the rant and go right to the questions.**
I love my mother. really I do.
I am pretty laid back about car safety. not nearly as anal (and i say that with love) about car seat and seatbelt use as 99% of the people here.
but I am about to lose it i tell ya.
OK so we are going to visit my mother. flying into Dallas. at our expense. schlepping 3 kids, by myself, 950 miles, on a plane which isn't all that cheap. SHE SHOULD FREAKING APPRECIATE THIS. after all it would be easier for her to visit me. has that ever happened? only twice in the last 15 years. how many times have i gone there? only about 30 times. who has paid vacation? here is a hint. . . not me!
deep cleansing breath . . . .
ok so it all starts with the damn truck. She is a Texan and she loves her freaking truck. and her controlling manipulative husband (sounds like a fun trip already doesn't it. I almost needed therapy after last year. no, i am serious. and I had a car at my disposal if I needed to run away. this year I won't. cause I am flying).
breathing in . . . breathing out . . . .
ok so for some reason she can't just drive out and get us. they live about an hour and half from the airport (for those of you familiar with the area she lives in Aubrey which is near Denton) and she has made this trip about a million times.
So this started a few weeks ago when i said i would be flying instead of driving because plane tickets were cheaper than gas. and really . . 15 hours on the road alone with 3 children and nothing waiting at the end of my trip but my family . . . Ok so she gets all excited and says her and her dh will pick us up in the TRUCK. we are talking pick up. Ok so i say "umm . . . will we all fit in that?" ph yeah, we fit Allen and amber and their three kids in there when we took them to the airport. Ok lets do some math shall we . . . 4 large adults (none of them would qualify as petite) and three big kids (7 year old and two 10 year olds). So i said "well there is no way they all had a seat belt . . . " she says . . I don't lie . . . "yes they were all buckled in". like he!! they were "impossible mom" says I . . . "well the kids were doubled up" I throw the flag on that one. does not count!!! i put my foot down. everyone has to have a seat belt. I am not sure why it takes two people to pick us up from the airport. if only one of them comes there is plenty of room and belts for everyone. but the only option she could come up with is "well what do you want us to do . . take two cars?" ummm no. so she counts. 6 seat belts and Madeline can sit in the front. Not real comfortable with just a lap belt but whatever. but then I think. hey this is a new truck. it has to have an air bag. absolutely no freaking way. i would feel safer if she was bouncing around in the back of the truck with the luggage (have a mention I am also not real comfortable with our luggage bouncing around in the back of a pick up with no cover but not gonna go to war over that one). So I ask my mom tonight if it has airbags. she responds with much pride that yes it does. i tell her this is bad news and i very sweetly asked "would it be less trouble if we just rented a car?" (she is also not comfortable with me using her car while I am there but they live out in the freaking sticks and I would like to actually leave the compound every now and then. last year ended up in the emergency room from a hillbilly disaster and really i would have freaked out had my mother been there hovering and controlling and yapping the whole time. woman called us six times before we got into the exam room and then yelled at me for turning my phone off.)
I even offered to call the company and ask them how to make the truck safe. she refused to give me the make and model and year and all. she hates it when I call people. after Madz got injured last year she was totally ticked off that i called our PEDIATRITION. Thats what mothers do when there babies get smooshed and wounded. She asked me why i went behind her back. what the heck. I was sitting on her couch. it never occurred to me someone would be offended that i called my daughters doctor when my daughter was seriously injured!!!!!!!!!
Ok so the question at hand.
I should point out I have a 10 year old (who is short short) a 7 year old (who could still be in a car seat) and a 4 year old who is still has to be in a booster. I bought a new car seat just for the trip. asked my mom to pick one up so we didn't have to lug it on the plane ($15 bucks) but she couldn't be bothered.
Ok so questions (dejavu . . ):
1. am I the one being complicated? Am i being over anal?
2. is it at all safe or is there a safe way for me to fit 3 adults and three children in a pick up (dodge extended cab. there are 6 seat belts. even though I am not entirely comfortable with lap belts I am ok with them especially in the back seat.) can the air bags be turned off?
3. should I just suck it up and let her be offended and rent a car (I so don't want to rent a car at the airport nor do i want to drive alone from the airport in the middle of the night when I am exhausted.)
4. would it be rude for me to suggest she come alone and avoid the whole problem. is there a polite calm way to suggest that? it really does solve all our problems except she will be pissed for the whole week about it.
5. can some one please tell me that this really is a big deal. i mean it is an hour and a half on the interstate on memorial day week end. and people in TX drive crazy (no offense.)
6. why is she making this so complicated? could she be doing this on purpose?
I love my mother. really I do.
I am pretty laid back about car safety. not nearly as anal (and i say that with love) about car seat and seatbelt use as 99% of the people here.
but I am about to lose it i tell ya.
OK so we are going to visit my mother. flying into Dallas. at our expense. schlepping 3 kids, by myself, 950 miles, on a plane which isn't all that cheap. SHE SHOULD FREAKING APPRECIATE THIS. after all it would be easier for her to visit me. has that ever happened? only twice in the last 15 years. how many times have i gone there? only about 30 times. who has paid vacation? here is a hint. . . not me!
deep cleansing breath . . . .
ok so it all starts with the damn truck. She is a Texan and she loves her freaking truck. and her controlling manipulative husband (sounds like a fun trip already doesn't it. I almost needed therapy after last year. no, i am serious. and I had a car at my disposal if I needed to run away. this year I won't. cause I am flying).
breathing in . . . breathing out . . . .
ok so for some reason she can't just drive out and get us. they live about an hour and half from the airport (for those of you familiar with the area she lives in Aubrey which is near Denton) and she has made this trip about a million times.
So this started a few weeks ago when i said i would be flying instead of driving because plane tickets were cheaper than gas. and really . . 15 hours on the road alone with 3 children and nothing waiting at the end of my trip but my family . . . Ok so she gets all excited and says her and her dh will pick us up in the TRUCK. we are talking pick up. Ok so i say "umm . . . will we all fit in that?" ph yeah, we fit Allen and amber and their three kids in there when we took them to the airport. Ok lets do some math shall we . . . 4 large adults (none of them would qualify as petite) and three big kids (7 year old and two 10 year olds). So i said "well there is no way they all had a seat belt . . . " she says . . I don't lie . . . "yes they were all buckled in". like he!! they were "impossible mom" says I . . . "well the kids were doubled up" I throw the flag on that one. does not count!!! i put my foot down. everyone has to have a seat belt. I am not sure why it takes two people to pick us up from the airport. if only one of them comes there is plenty of room and belts for everyone. but the only option she could come up with is "well what do you want us to do . . take two cars?" ummm no. so she counts. 6 seat belts and Madeline can sit in the front. Not real comfortable with just a lap belt but whatever. but then I think. hey this is a new truck. it has to have an air bag. absolutely no freaking way. i would feel safer if she was bouncing around in the back of the truck with the luggage (have a mention I am also not real comfortable with our luggage bouncing around in the back of a pick up with no cover but not gonna go to war over that one). So I ask my mom tonight if it has airbags. she responds with much pride that yes it does. i tell her this is bad news and i very sweetly asked "would it be less trouble if we just rented a car?" (she is also not comfortable with me using her car while I am there but they live out in the freaking sticks and I would like to actually leave the compound every now and then. last year ended up in the emergency room from a hillbilly disaster and really i would have freaked out had my mother been there hovering and controlling and yapping the whole time. woman called us six times before we got into the exam room and then yelled at me for turning my phone off.)
I even offered to call the company and ask them how to make the truck safe. she refused to give me the make and model and year and all. she hates it when I call people. after Madz got injured last year she was totally ticked off that i called our PEDIATRITION. Thats what mothers do when there babies get smooshed and wounded. She asked me why i went behind her back. what the heck. I was sitting on her couch. it never occurred to me someone would be offended that i called my daughters doctor when my daughter was seriously injured!!!!!!!!!
Ok so the question at hand.
I should point out I have a 10 year old (who is short short) a 7 year old (who could still be in a car seat) and a 4 year old who is still has to be in a booster. I bought a new car seat just for the trip. asked my mom to pick one up so we didn't have to lug it on the plane ($15 bucks) but she couldn't be bothered.
Ok so questions (dejavu . . ):
1. am I the one being complicated? Am i being over anal?
2. is it at all safe or is there a safe way for me to fit 3 adults and three children in a pick up (dodge extended cab. there are 6 seat belts. even though I am not entirely comfortable with lap belts I am ok with them especially in the back seat.) can the air bags be turned off?
3. should I just suck it up and let her be offended and rent a car (I so don't want to rent a car at the airport nor do i want to drive alone from the airport in the middle of the night when I am exhausted.)
4. would it be rude for me to suggest she come alone and avoid the whole problem. is there a polite calm way to suggest that? it really does solve all our problems except she will be pissed for the whole week about it.
5. can some one please tell me that this really is a big deal. i mean it is an hour and a half on the interstate on memorial day week end. and people in TX drive crazy (no offense.)
6. why is she making this so complicated? could she be doing this on purpose?
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you might have hours of quite
