Our road trip started more than 5 hours late. Charlotte family photographer
But we did it! Charlotte family photographer
We got out of town…eventually.
The last few hours before leaving Charlotte family photographer
Everybody was in a mood by then and people were bugged that (whoever it was) took way too long getting packed and getting everything in line before we left.
I was tempted to get super bugged. To start going off on people for their bad attitudes, to chastise someone for snapping at the person nearest to them.
Usually, getting out of the house is when I get the most stressed…those hours just before we are supposed to leave and then again when we haven’t left two hours after our target time.
What I did when I wanted to get mad…
This time though…I decided to laugh. I laughed as I said, just as everyone is beginning to freak out at each other. It’s ok! Go ahead and freak out. We are all bugged that we haven’t left yet. We all wish we were gone. It’s ok.
And then I laughed to myself. I don’t know why. It just felt better than getting mad.
Maybe it was for me. Maybe it was for everybody.
Either way, it helped. It lightened those moments enough to make leaving feel less tense and more hopeful.
Here are some road trip truths I’ve learned:
People are going to get mad. It’s ok.
Kids are going to stay up way too late and wake up too early. It’s ok.
You’re going to lose your cool at the free continental breakfast in the hotel lobby. It’s ok.
You’re not going to get enough sleep. It’s ok.
There will be lots of fun. Some of it will feel fun. Some of it won’t. It’s ok.
You’ll be disappointed on some days. It’s ok.
There will be days that will feel perfect and there will be days that don’t feel perfect. It’s ok.
The thing is…no matter what happens on your trip…everything is going to be ok.
The more I say “It’s ok”……
The better this trip feels to me. The more relaxed I feel. The more I lean into the moment I’m in. The more I forgive myself for the way the day has gone, the more I forgive myself for the way my kids are feeling, the more I forgive others for what they do, the more I have mercy for other people around me…whether they are road tripping or not.
It’s ok.
Follow our trip on instagram ( @davinafear ) or on Facebook: Davina Fear or check our instagram hashtag: #fearfamroadtrip2k14
Davina Fear is a Familyness Adventurer. She is expert at building forts and is currently on her familyness road trip to Utah and having fun photographing the familyness of many awesome families along the way!
She blogs at davinafear.com and believes in the non-cheesy smile.
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[…] lastly, its ok if not everyone is happy all the time. i found myself taking it personally when the girls were crabby and totally not into the trip, second guessing the trip over all… but actually, we all had our moments, and that was OK. here is a perfect image illustrating how we often felt.. me, happyhappyjoyjoy, one of them notsohappy. 🙂 (for further reading on this concept, check out one of my favorite photographer’s posts on this very thing: ROAD TRIP TRUTHS […]