Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:01:22 -0400
Reply-To: Paul Wyand <miatapaul@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Paul Wyand <miatapaul@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Traveling/Camping With a Baby
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You sound much braver than me. The only thing I would say is if you do it do
not be surprised if the weather is not great that the baby may be very
cranky and you may have to cut the trip short. I have four children. 2 step
daughters ages 24 and 26 obviously not sleeping in my bed anymore! 2 younger
boys ages 7 and almost 10 and they still sleep in my bed whenever they get
the chance. I must admit it is great to have them snuggle with you but it
does make married life difficult and 4 gets crowded in the bed and really
bad those times all 6 of us were piled in! My wife and I are separated now
and I have to say that when I have the boys at my place they some times
sleep in my bed. It really does make us feel closer. I take my boys to
several outdoor shows a year, they really love Reggae. I do not know if I
would ever try it that young. The thing is camping makes it a bit more
demanding on the parents. I would do a test week end camping first. I have
to say one of my greatest disappointments is not having taken the girls and
not being able to take the boys to see Jerry Garcia. Music when shared with
a family is an amazing bonding experience. Most of my happiest memories with
the girls involve music even if it was just silly dancing to disco cranked
in the living room. Funny thing is they won't dance with me in the living
room any more... boy do they grow up fast. Enjoy them when they are young,
share your passions with them and work hard to keep the family together.
So keep you plans flexible and do not get upset if the baby does not take to
it well. They are there own beings and know what they like. Pack a lot of
toys and have fun.
Thinking of folk, my younger daughter's undergraduate college graduation had
Pete Seager speak and sing at it. I think Jenelle was one of the few that
knew the songs he was singing and even who he was.
On the cloth diaper thing, we really tried, but in the end gave up on it.
The service diapers often have so many chemicals in them, like bleach and
industrial chemicals, that they can irritate the skin. If you have laundry
facilities then home laundry is better, and rinse twice. I forget what they
were called but there were 2 cloth diapers that worked really well, first
used a normal cloth diaper but you put it in a leak proof nylon jacket thing
that had Velcro and the other better one was a Velcro cloth diaper that had
a leak proof outer shell. The one piece was really cool, but expensive. If
we had the money that is all the boys would have worn. Buy my X did not have
the same passion for saving the earth as I do so it was an up hill battle.
Music and Vanagons go together!
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