Trip to Washington DC

Contrary to my fears, our flight to and from D.C. turned out well, despite Scarlett getting sick right before our trip. With a combination of snacks, nap, books, games, and DVD, she was well-behaved and entertained throughout both flights. I think she got out of her seat only once. However, she was fairly sick during the first few days of our trip, coughing non-stop and giving her cold to me. In spite of it all, I think we had a good time. Unlike when my husband and Scarlett accompanied me to my conference in Toronto last summer where my husband swore he would never do it again, Scarlett was much better behaved this time with my role and my husband's reversed. Although, the situation is slightly different.

I wanted to accompany him to his conference in D.C. mostly to take advantage of the opportunity to visit three of my cousins who live in the area. So we spent a few non-conference days at my cousin's house in Virginia, which made life with a 2-year-old a bit easier. Even though my cousin doesn't have any kids (yet) and thus no toys, she did have two dogs, which Scarlett liked. One wasn't friendly at all toward Scarlett but it was good for her to experience that. I think she needs to learn that not all dogs are like our greyhound: gentle, non-aggressive, and forgiving towards her sometimes unkind treatment.

When we were in D.C. for my husband's conference, it helped a lot that we stayed at Embassy Suites where there was an extra "living room", a microwave, and a mini-refrigerator. It make life a bit easier with a toddler who still wants her milk hot. Even though there weren't too many things to do in D.C. with a toddler, with the not-so-frigid weather, we managed to visit the zoo and the Mall where the Washington Monument and the national museums are. What's even better about Scarlett visiting the East Coast was the fact that she stayed on California time. That meant her bedtime was around 11pm instead of 8pm. So we were able to go out at night and see the White House, the Monument, and eat out for dinner every night.


Visiting my other two cousins who live in Maryland reminded me how nice it is to have family near by when one has kids. These two cousins of mine are sisters one year apart in age and they live one town over from one another. They each have two little kids: one has an almost 1.5-year-old and 3-year-old and the other one has a 3-year-old and 4-year-old. They see each other just about everyday and the kids all play together. I thought about how nice that was to have. Unfortunately, I'm not close to my brothers and we don't live close to any of our family members. And Scarlett doesn't have any cousins (yet). Luckily, I have a very good mommy-group where Scarlett has 8 other friends her age. I guess in my socio-economic group, this is our "family."