Springtime, in Europe

I finally feel like I live in Europe. That Montreux is only a 2 hour car ride away, and that I can handle driving that car if I wind up renting one. That Torino is not too far, and that it is a quirky, more granola and much more child friendly version of Milan. That I can hop on a plane to Paris for a one night getaway with M. That it isn't a horrible idea to sign up for a conference in Istanbul and plan to take along M and A.

How cool is that? I moved to Europe in my mid 30s and am now preparing to rock the giggly off this wonderful fact.

We spent Easter weekend in Torino. By way of a few nights in Grenoble, France. It was the official opening of my "Summer Of Travel" whereby I take back the fun in life. My astronomy exhibit project at work is done, I'm not pregnant and sick, and my kid is older. So, of course, I have planned some 6 trips for the next 3 months.

Then we got to Torino. And by the end of day 1 there, we were like, "Who took our child and replaced her with this hyperactive, screaming maniac?"

Uh oh. "Summer of Travel" may wind up being a drama/horror flick instead of a light, family comedy and feel-good film.

Looking back, I think the answer to the question above is, "we did." Just because my child is always looking for new things to do within the boring old confines of our apartment, doesn't mean it is a good idea to take her to a new city, and then make sure she is outside of the apartment (lovely apartment, by the way, again thanks to AirBnB) some 10 hours of each day. Now that we are home, whole hours have gone by without me sitting on a toilet in a tiny Italian bathroom in a gorgeous old restaurant, with a bare butted toddler slung over my lap, as I try to get her clean diaper ON, and she tries her hardest to get her bare bottom ON THE FLOOR. Ew. There, on Easter Sunday afternoon, she was shrieking with laughter as I told her "NO!" and I was the closest I've gotten to spanking her.

But, by some grace of god, chocolate, northern Italy, or spring, I realized this fact before I acted on it. I just wanted to make her stop laughing and listen to me. And to be sad for what she was doing. What a horrible space to be in. I was in a mood the rest of the afternoon and evening, and had to read on the couch another few hours after she and M went to sleep, one of the Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency books (which are my secret weapon for getting through horrible life moments), while the dinner in the upstairs apartment got really rowdy. And all of this after such a great picnic in the kid-friendly, playground and grass and fountain-laden park earlier that afternoon. I mean, we event invented Mango Nectar Mimosas. It was glorious. And then came the fall.

Before I got to sleep, I looked through my photos of the day, from my phone. And you know what? In between all those moments of "We mean it! Either get in the stroller or walk, now! Stop playing with the dirty rocks on the street! Stop running towards traffic! Stop running 100 meters away in the piazza!", there were many smiles. Ok, so there was really no extra hand to take photos of our dysfunctional little family in the moments when one of us was throwing a tantrum, but there were lots of smiles. And a little kid who we realized was trying her hardest to adapt to a lot of new stimuli that we kept subjecting her to, in between bites of Easter chocolate eggs and gelato. How much more could we have subjected her to, anyway?

So, overall, I think that SOT is still on schedule, but I'll be a bit more careful (ok, a lot, like, a lot a lot) about how we organize each trip. Staying in a hotel room and playing for hours is good. Getting used to things it good. Making sure we are driving during naptime is good (yesterday's drive home was actually much easier, because we were more cautious to ask A what she wanted and to try to keep it a bit slower). Slowing down is good. And, catching myself before I spank my kid, something I am so completely not ok with and yet will probably be scared of doing for the next 10 years, is good.

So for the end of this post, I'd like to give a little shout out to all the great things about the trip, and the things that helped make it easier:

- staying with friends with kids in on a mountain top in France a few days before Torino
- finding a Playmobil camper van (on aforementioned friends' advice) in Torino as our first day's outing goal - this thing is soooo cool. 

Dishes and mugs have special storage shelf.

Mirror, toilet and shower, and toilet paper - so far even the soccer ball that came with the set has taken a shower.

Tiny, cute stuff. Alas, thermos may have stayed in Torino.

- pasta and pizza for meals
-Torino playgrounds

- child-friendly restaurants, with baby chairs
- splitting the drive up by stops in France for 2 days, and then stops in Aosta and Montreux on the way back and making sure napping and nighttime sleep took up as many hours of the drive as possible
- singing Old MacDonald in the car as many times as possible
- getting warm milk for A in pretty glasses when we got coffees, and letting her enjoy her milk mustaches (and amazing cupcakes while we were at it)

 -AirBnB...again, an artsy apartment, with lots of space, and a decaying, charming courtyard I could look into on a morning when I woke before everyone else



 - the best Easter egg prize ever in Torino (inside of the best dark chocolate egg I've ever tasted) - a coral colored, rubber covered calculator that became A's phone and camera

Taking photos with her "phone"...."cleek!"

 - going back for 5 more minutes on top of the first 10 minutes that A spent sitting in a toy car in Montreux, as it got cold outside, after dinner, just letting her play (and stopping in Montreux for a walk and dinner)

Montreux lakeshore

- asking people we met for suggestions about parks, toy stores and restaurants