i'm attempting a foolish, yet exciting, and even possibly fantastic outing this weekend. we've decided to try camping with The Boy. the reason is because R has been craving nature this week. and since working every day, all summer, in AZ where there are no trees, he's developed quite the nature fixation. i'm willing to try this outing, at least once. but may i remind/inform all of you what M requires on a normal day in terms of sleep:
1.) he needs it as dark as possible: we shut the blinds, we have hung up fleece blankets in front of his window, we shut the door, and we put a sweatshirt by the crack of the door so he can't see lights on in the other room, and then instead of slumbering, yelp to us asking to be a part of all the fun.
2.) he needs to not be able to hear anything outside his room: we have a humidifier that has three settings the highest of which is LOUD and very white noisy, we have a cheap noise machine that we set to "wind" and turned up to max. between these two things he can't quite hear the ample amounts of ridiculous traffic right outside our door.
3.) he needs his blanket, or at least, it helps
4.) he needs snuggling/reading/singing for about 5-10 minutes to calm down and fall asleep by himself
(3 and 4 don't worry me, we can bring the blanket and provide the snuggling and reading and singing as usual. but 1 and 2 are a little more tricky, but i think a radio (with batteries) tuned to a fuzzy station should take care of 2. but #1 i simply can't do much about, and M needs to fall asleep around 7. will he cooperate???)
really i don't think it will be that bad. i mean it's only for one night, and he should at least enjoy the "trip" part of the adventure, right? and since he's walking now, i think he could try out some new walkin' shoes and get in touch with nature for the first time. plus, he might LOVE it! it's possible, right? (this is why i said "possibly fantastic".) and it might be worth it just to see my cute R getting so excited about bringing his little family out camping. R LOVES to camp, and subsequently would love for M to love to camp. i already love to camp, but i've never done it with a baby...a baby who eats bugs at our house, let alone in the middle of nature where they live. but i have to give my little boy the chance to experience these things. it may end up just being an experience in sleep deprivation, but we must try.
2 comments:
Oooh. I hope it went well. I have chosen not to (1) attend youth conference with Caleb in tow or (2) go to the family vacation in Jackson Hole--which depresses me more than words can say--because I am afraid of camping with the baby. Next year.
i would definitely never take miles or any other baby camping, and then have to breastfeed them ALSO while camping. i was perfectly happy to attempt this after weaning. and happily, it went quite well! the fuzzy radio worked like a charm, and the 6 C batteries were worth every penny (and didn't run out in the night either.)
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