Ady On The Roadtrip

This past year we have had many changes, or at least moments that changed our lives. Business dealings, car wrecks, heart conditions, move(s), graduation, family death(s) and so forth. Occasionally we get asked how we deal with things. Most of the time people just think that we are nuts, and those that don't, probably should. With our decision to hit the road for a while, and to travel the countryside while we wait for some business dealings to be worked out, we have been asked several times how our kids handle everything. Well, being as the question(s) has the term "everything" I'm supposing that different people may have different things that they worry about. But many probably worry about the lack of stability, the regular all day driving, lack of finances and a few other things. So I thought I would answer a few questions if I can. First of all the driving. This should help give you an idea of how Ady deals with it.

We have done a ton of driving. And to be totally honest, sometimes we can get pretty tired of each other. But most of the time, Ady and Brock have been great. They are great troopers and we are all learning how to deal with each other. But my favorite parts of the drives are when they are both asleep. (Kasey's favorite part is when mommy is asleep).
Sometimes we get up really early, like we did this day when we drove to Philadelphia. And then the kids are fortunate and usually end up taking a nap. And we have decided that Brock is easier to carry when they both fall asleep. If you look at Ady's hands, you will see our tickets for the tour of Independence Hall. Everywhere we go, Ady always asks if she can carry the tickets. Problem is that she will occasionally destroy them, and the methods of destruction vary greatly, sometimes lose them or otherwise rend the tickets unusable. So I almost always tell her no. And this makes her very sad. But, as you can see in this photo, occasionally, when I can be absolutely sure that they will be able to be used for their intended purpose, I do allow her to carry the tickets.

Finances-sometimes people worry about us financially, heck we worry about our finances, or lack of. But don't worry too much, no one is going to starve or be forced to run around naked. (It is getting too cold for Brock to just wear a diaper anymore, so he too will be clothed). Ady has learned that she is not made of money. We took a tour of the U.S. Treasury Department Bureau of Printing and Engraving. That is where they print dollar bills. And Ady learned that if she was made up of 100 dollar bills she would be worth 978,000 dollars. Ady is beginning to understand money. If she sees a penny, she will stop and pick it up. Then she brings it to me and asks me to hold it for her. Until recently this hasn't been a problem. But now, she sometimes asks for it back. When we stayed with Melanie and Ryan, Melanie would spoil Ady. She bought things and even took Ady on a carousel ride. Ady now asks for all sorts of things. My response is usually that I don't have any money. So then she will turn and ask for the penny that she found earlier. Usually I just ignore her, but sometimes I try and explain that it takes lots and lots of pennies to buy something or a whole dollar. I hadn't thought much about where this may lead, but today on the way back from church we stopped at a red light. There was a man who was walking up to the windows of all the cars at the red light and asking for a dollar. Being the tightwad that I am, I didn't even roll down my window when he approached our car. However he wasn't detoured and this was the conversation that followed.
Man(yelling at the window):Do you have a dollar?
Me(shaking my head):No.
Man(still yelling):will you give me a dollar?
Me(not looking at him):I shook my head no again.
At this point the man walked to the next car. I assumed the conversation was over. I was wrong.
Ady(in a very excited voice):Dad, I want a dollar, will you give me a dollar?

Stability/structure. We have been told that we aren't highly structured parents. We don't have scheduled nap time, bed time and sometimes scheduled meal time for our kids. We usually say something about our schedule and how we are trying to do the best we can in our situation. Sometimes this response meets some form of approval. As for the stability, well we are trying, and maybe someday we will leave our life of being vagabonds. Kasey and I sometimes wonder how much our moving around affects Ady's concept of home. About a week ago Ady and Aunt Melanie had a conversation that went something like this.
(Ady had been talking about staying at Melanie's house).
Melanie:So Ady, can I come to your house and stay with you sometime?
Ady:No, I don't have a house.
Melanie(laughing a little bit):Oh, well can I come to where you live and visit your home someday?
Ady:I don't know where I live, I don't think I have a home.
I like to think that Ady is learning a valuable lesson that Home is a concept or idea that one works on achieving where ever our family is, not necessarily a location. She does pretty well traveling around with us on our adventures. And as you can see in the picture of her and me in the jail at Fort McHenry, she would probably be happy where ever, as long as she has her family.