There’s no escaping it now. With Christmas less than a week away, it’s time to face the inevitable.
No, I’m not talking about gift giving or even gift buying. In fact, with a combination of great deals and a bit more crafting than usual, I’m not even too concerned about that portion of the holiday season. I’m not even letting myself stress about the annual tug-of-war between my family and my husband’s family — at least not anymore.
What has me chewing on the fingernails of my right hand, making them unappealingly shorter than the nails on my left hand, is the 1,125 miles we’ll soon be driving in our little Saturn with a seven-week old baby and a dog, not to mention a soldier. I have a bad enough driving track record with just the dog and me, so when you throw a new baby into the mix, you might understand why my blood pressure is running a little higher than normal.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with a woman who took on a similar journey. She said her new baby slept the entire way. When my friend came down last month to visit with her little one, she said the same. I’m praying this is sort of an across-the-board thing, but my little Anastasia is always surprising me, so I guess all I can do at this point is wait. And worry. And pray.
But what else can you do in this situation? The girl has family to meet and lots of presents to receive. We’re going to Iowa, and that’s that.
So I’ll pack up the four outfits that kind of fit me right now. (Will this weight ever come off?) Then we’ll load up the presents and plenty of diapers and wipes and go about our merry little way, just hoping that no mishaps prevent us from making it to our daughter’s first merry little Christmas.