When truckers run out their weekly hours or get close to it they have to pull what is called a 34 hour restart. These days this means that they have to sit in one place for two consecutive 1am - 5am periods before they can start moving again. With a little one on the truck this can make this time period interesting. I've noticed that it is one thing for us to be stuck in the truck while it moving with plenty to see and another thing all together to be stuck in the truck not moving and confined by the weather. Yesterday was a day like this.
It started out relatively warm outside, but a cold icy wind slowly built up until it was far too cold to be outside. I had the little one out for a walk around the truck stop we were staying at. He would run a little, try and jump - which he can't quite yet and then go up and inspect all the trucks one by one. He tired quickly from the cold, especially as the wind got stronger so we went back to the truck.
Junior realized as we climbed into the truck and shut the door, that he didn't want to be inside. He then proceeded to be miserable. He didn't want his toys, he didn't want to play games on the ipad, he wanted to go back outside even though if I took him outside he didn't want to be out there. We took him into the truckers lounge, but that wasn't what he wanted either.
I searched the shelves of the store for something I could get to keep him interested until nap time. In the end I got him some markers, which he spent his time sorting rather than coloring with. It kept him interested for awhile and one of them even wound up behind me with its lid off. I now have purple splotches all over my pants.
After lunch, I took him into the shower and he finally perked up and had fun. I put a flannel over the drainage pipe while he sat in the shower and had fun splashing water everywhere. When shower time was over he was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. I had to drag him out of the shower just to get him to get dried off.
He then took a really really long nap.
What lesson did we learn today?
Sometimes the usual distractions don't work with kids. Bugger!
It started out relatively warm outside, but a cold icy wind slowly built up until it was far too cold to be outside. I had the little one out for a walk around the truck stop we were staying at. He would run a little, try and jump - which he can't quite yet and then go up and inspect all the trucks one by one. He tired quickly from the cold, especially as the wind got stronger so we went back to the truck.
Junior realized as we climbed into the truck and shut the door, that he didn't want to be inside. He then proceeded to be miserable. He didn't want his toys, he didn't want to play games on the ipad, he wanted to go back outside even though if I took him outside he didn't want to be out there. We took him into the truckers lounge, but that wasn't what he wanted either.
I searched the shelves of the store for something I could get to keep him interested until nap time. In the end I got him some markers, which he spent his time sorting rather than coloring with. It kept him interested for awhile and one of them even wound up behind me with its lid off. I now have purple splotches all over my pants.
After lunch, I took him into the shower and he finally perked up and had fun. I put a flannel over the drainage pipe while he sat in the shower and had fun splashing water everywhere. When shower time was over he was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. I had to drag him out of the shower just to get him to get dried off.
He then took a really really long nap.
What lesson did we learn today?
Sometimes the usual distractions don't work with kids. Bugger!