The joy of driving and exploring

When is the last time you took your car and, instead of taking the usual route, you took a much longer one just for the pleasure of driving or sightseeing?

Yesterday I had to take a day off to sit with my 4.5 years old son - schools are closed on Wednesdays and his usual babysitter was not available. Part of our schedule for the day was to go to a Zoo, somewhere half an hour driving from our home.

As soon as we left, he started talking about us going on an exploration mission, which resonated loudly with some hidden feelings I had lately. They can mostly be described as me longing for trekking in the mountains, or driving through some pitoresque landscapes, or simply holding a map in my hand and figuring out what part of a city I would like to visit first.

I should also add that we have recently bought a new car. Nothing amazing, a Ford Focus, but more powerful, very silent and all in all a lot better driving experience than my previous car. So, with all these factors combined, it's probably no wonder that at some point on the road I took a sharp turn left and entered a small road that has always been there, that I have never taken, and about which I always wondered where it leads...

It's a small road in the forest, getting to the bottom of some valleys and to the top of some hills, while always lounging a lake. Very narrow and with lots of turns. In short, a wonderful driving experience, joined by beautiful scenery and my son's clear enjoyment of it. A perfect moment. We joined the main road half an hour later and we haven't regret it for a second.

After the zoo and the mandatory McDonald's, it was time to head back. And I was facing the hard choice of taking the motorway (half an hour) or driving to the seaside and lounge it until close to home (one hour or more depending on the traffic). I guess the choice I made is obvious, and I can assure you that the trip back was beautiful! Well, my son slept through the whole of it, but I enjoyed it a lot.

As I don't have access right now to the photos I made years ago (and I didn't bothered yesterday), here is a picture I found on the web with that road.

While driving back I realized that the last time I had been on that road was... 7 years ago! Because it's close to home, and it's touristic and.... it's simply longer. But how beautiful it is! And how seldom are we taking time to just... drive and enjoy the scenery.

Yes, sometimes the exploration starts quite close to home.

Fun!

As a follow up to yesterday's post, here is our recent family tradition in the evenings. I'll try my best to describe it to you, but you'll have to use your imagination too...

Scene: our double bed
Characters:

• D., 4 years old (or, in his words, "four years old. Well, four years and something now"). Called "Dada" by his little brother.
• M., 1.5 years old. Limited vocabulary.
• and myself

All three of us in the bed... and the fun starts.


And if we were insects? What do you mean, insects? Daddy! I will be an insect that climbs here, you will be another insect. M.! We'll meet up and discuss. Daddy! M! Hello, insect, how are you? Hello! Daddy! Have you seen all the place we have here? M! I think I'll take a nap. Booo! Ah, you scared me, M! Oh, no, a bad insect is coming! Which bad insect, your brother? Booo! Aaargh! Quickly, let's hide! Dada? Dad, you take this blanket and put it over me. Daddy! M! Dad, cover me with the blanket! Yes, yes, I'll cover you. Why? Booo! Because I'm an insect and I need to hide from M. (under blanket) Shhhh! *pulls my hair* And now you hide too. *pulls my hair again* Aiie! Quickly, hide! *laughs* Now we go out. This? Eye Ah, the bad insect! This? Nose Now I'm a frog. This? AAAAAiiiiieee!  I jumped on you! Mouth! This? Ribbit! Ear Aaaaiiiieeeee!  I jumped on you again!
Why do you jump on me? Because I'm a frog!  *pinches me* I thought you were an insect.No, I'm not an insect anymore, I'm a frog and frogs jump. *rolls on the bed laughing* Ribbit!  This? M's hair
Aieee! What happened? Lamp? I hurt myself on the bed when I jumped. If you're not careful...
It's ok, the frogs don't feel pain. Don't pull the lamp! Now let's hide under the blanket again. This? Eye! Honeyyyyy! I can't do it anymore!

I think this is what it is usually called "spending quality time with your children"...

Time. And kids.

Finally, since yesterday, I can finally rest a little at the office. The past weeks have been quite consuming at the office, which generally means I don't get many personal things done, nor can I get some well deserved rest. I know some of my work colleagues are reading this, so let me assure you: yes, you have read that right, I actually come at the office to rest.

While I wouldn't go to the office if I was not paid for it, I really am happy when the weekend is over. Fridays are fine, I am not dreading the upcoming weekend too much. I am usually enthusiastic, making plans to do lots of stuff around the house. Useless plans, as my wife is saying, as by Sunday evening not only I haven't had the time to do half of what I would have liked, I also feel very tired and with my nerves stretched to the maximum.

The reason? Of course, everyone together now.... CHILDREN. Yes, yes, I love them, I'm happy to have them, and all the other crap. But couldn't they just sleep late on weekends? I'm not even asking for 9am or something like that. Anything later than 7am would be great! And couldn't they just play by themselves? Why is it that when I sit on the couch in front of the TV, in less than 2 minutes I have two kids on my head (literally), yelling and screaming, and pinching and hitting me or each other?

It's not just a question of having time to do stuff during the weekends, it's uselessness of what I do that gets to me. I swipe the floor? Then we have lunch or dinner and it's worse than before. I range their toys (or make them do it - hah, good one!)? 1 hour later the floor is a mine field again. I don't do their laundry, buy my wife is complaining she is washing 15 t-shirts of one of the children every week...

So yes, children are waking us early and keeping us busy the entire weekend. And every bit of stuff we want to do is subject to very careful planning and negotiation. "You take the kids there so that I can watch the match". "Let's hope one sleeps, you spend time with the other, so that I can take a shower". And so on. Yes, we get things done around the house. The typical chores, but also "fun" stuff like watching ASSE (football) and RC Toulon (rugby) weekend matches. But always with a feeling of defiance, of having managed to do that despite the odds. Managing to do stuff for us is the exploit, not the normality.

What make things better, however, is that when we talk to other parents, they have exactly the same problems. That feels good! And reassuring, somehow.

Anyway, the above is not only a vent, but also an explanation of why I haven't posted lately - too busy at work, too tired and busy at home. I am simply not so naive anymore to believe I can have one hour at the PC at home without them coming to ask me for a story or simply to play with them. It's also a question of priorities: I think it is less important to blog than to spend time with my kids. And, of course, a lot less important than to watch a match while drinking some beers - I need that for my sanity.

Well, I'll soon go and pick the oldest from the kindergarden (first day after the Summer holidays today) and the youngest at the nursery. And then at home we'll spend the typical evening together, playing and throwing toys everywhere (them) and food on the floor (them again) and speaking without stopping (them again, plus the wife) and hitting me (them again, sometimes the wife too) and then finally going to bed (all of us).

And you know what? I am actually looking forward to spend the evening again with my family... Silly me, I know - but love can't be helped.