Day 21-- Born of Frustration

It would be an understatement to say that last night didn't go as planned. Our sweet little girl took a leaf from her older brother's book, and cried all night. It certainly could be colic, although it would be a much milder case than Edgar. I finally managed a nap on the couch, then took the screamer for a while and let Jen get some sleep. All told, I think I got 3 hours of sleep and Jen got less.

Generally, when I'm tired, I get grumpy. At 3 hours of sleep, the grumpiness escalates into general anger. So, I started off our day pretty angry.

Contrary to what I described in the last post, the grandparents slept in this morning, so we were awake with a fussy baby, more or less ready to go, waiting for the grandparents to arrive.

Upon their arrival, there was some discussion as to whether we should cancel the day at the beach, or have grandma and grandpa watch the kids for a while and let us get some sleep before taking off. Ultimately, the decision we made was probably the wrong one, but it was based on the idea that Jen and I didn't want to drive to the coast only to turn around and drive right back again. So, we pushed on and left for the coast.

So here's where the difference in perspective kicks in: Jen's folks are from landlocked Utah, so to come to Oregon includes a requisite trip to the coast. Since they have no ocean to admire, a simple drive to the ocean is sufficient for their needs. Living here in the northwest, I think we expect something a little more substantial. When we go to the coast, we expect to do something at the coast. Unfortunately, we were far too sleepy to communicate any of this.

So, our trip to the coast today involved a long car ride, punctuated by a long baby-nursing session at the side of the road. Then, we had lunch at a restaurant. Then, we went home via an equally long car ride.

No sand between our toes, no walks on the windswept beach, no shopping, no sightseeing except what's visible out the windows of a minivan with two restless kids driving on Highway 101.

To Jen's folks, that was a decent day at the coast. They had a grand time. To me, that was like sitting in a car for 4 hours to go to a restaurant. I'm trying really hard to reconcile the difference in our perspectives. I'll grant that a lot of my attitude is predicated on sleep deprivation, but I still had a pretty miserable day-- one which I would have rather stayed in bed.

My lunch was fantastic-- cracked dungeness crab!-- but it wasn't 4-hours-in-a-car fantastic.

Home and grumpiness, an improvised dinner, and some quiet time followed. Then, we loaded up the kids into the car and took Edgar swimming at the pool at his grandparents' hotel. That was a bit relaxing, at least.

 Now, the kids are sleeping. I plan to, too, before anything else goes wrong.