Backseat Mommy: A Long Hard Ride
You never realize how much stuff you've collected in your life until it's moving day.
With our youngest son finally going away to college, we did two moves in one. My husband Alex and I were moving into a condo only a few miles away, but first we were driving Cory sixteen hours away to college. Because we had to put all our things in storage (we wouldn't get title for another three weeks), we were planning a two-week road trip after we finished driving a few days drive to drop Cory off.
As we were packing the car, with all of Cory's stuff plus our suitcases for the almost three-week round trip, we found we had a major predicament. By the time the car was loaded, there was only room enough to seat two people: the driver and someone sitting in the back seat directly behind the driver. Everyplace else was piled to the roof with Cory's belongings and our suitcases.
My husband tried to reshuffle everything, but there was simply too much of it.
I finally suggested, "Cory and I could squeeze back there together."
"For sixteen hours?" Alex asked. "You'd end up totally on each other's nerves."
"Well, we'll likely have to take more rest stops this way," I shrugged.
"With your teacup-sized bladder, we'll need to do that regardless," Alex quipped, always annoyed by how often I needed pit stops. He was a put-the-pedal-to-the-metal-and-keep-it-there kind of guy, while my bladder was the kind of traveler that always insisted on stopping to smell the roses. (Or if there wasn't anyplace official to stop, perhaps just to make the roses smell.)
I turned to Cory, who was slim like I was, "Can you handle sixteen hours cramped beside your old mother?"
"Only if I have to," my son, always sarcastic, agreed grudgingly. He felt resistant, but he realized the only alternative would be to leave some of his stuff behind, which wouldn't be acceptable at all.
"Be careful with that attitude, young man," I shot back playfully. "You're going to be stuck next to me for sixteen hours, so you're probably better off if I'm in a good mood."
I should note it was a very hot August day and I was wearing a sundress for the drive, to stay as cool as possible.
We all did one more pee check, which I of course made use of, then Cory and I squeezed next to each other into the cozy spot big enough for one.
Alex asked, with sarcasm just like his son's, "Comfy cozy?"
With Cory's right elbow poking into my breast, I quipped, "Like a cow in a Pullman car."
"Moo," Cory added, shifting a bit more, resulting in even more pressure on my left breast, since on the other side I was crammed up against a pile of boxes that was stacked to the roof.
We were just out of the city half an hour later, when I objected, "This isn't working."
"You don't enjoy being crowded together like a sardine?" Cory asked, as he set aside the book he was reading on his iPad, like I too was attempting, my Kindle app the only app really worth owning.
"Not particularly," I agreed, as I wriggled around ineffectively before suggesting, "Maybe I could just sit on your lap for a while."
"Okay," my son nodded, agreeing with me for a change.
I climbed onto his lap and sighed, "Now that is much better."
"Agreed," Cory said.