Mama said

Mama said there'd be days like yesterday. Oy! The word of the day was "traffic". An oil tanker overturned on a freeway connector near my area, catching fire and spilling oil into the LA river. Which meant that ALL freeways were closed...which meant all side streets were packed, all day and night, with angry motorists inching along. Among them was me.

Our morning trip to the Silverlake reservoir, which should take about two hours in total, took four. It took almost two hours to get to my bandleader's birthday party, a trip that normally takes about fifteen minutes. Then, entirely unrelated, coming home from DJing last night in Orange County, all the freeways I took were also closed or down to one lane for road work, making a half hour trip almost two hours (and of course I had a sitter on the clock at home). So basically I spent almost my entire day sitting in traffic, half of which with a screaming baby. I kept throwing things behind me into his car seat to play with - here, play with this empty Krispy Kreme bag/water bottle/piece of junk mail/pair of sunglasses etc etc. It's amazing that actually works. Thank God he's easily amused-!

I get home finally at nearly two AM, bleary eyed and exhausted, and the sitter has locked the screen door, so I can't get into the house. Looking through the window, she's nowhere to be found. I knock and knock, and nothing. I text her that I can't open the door - nothing. I start to panic a little, wondering if she left...? And if so, where's the baby? Finally I ring the doorbell. Which brings her out of the back room, and wakes up the baby, who is now screaming hysterically. Ugh. I guess he had woken up so she was back there giving him a sippy cup of milk. She said she'd locked the screen door because she heard fireworks in the neighborhood and got scared. So, I was left with a wide awake baby who wouldn't drop his sippy cup...and of course today woke up to an exceptionally cranky baby who'd peed the bed and had milk stains all over him. See, this is why we don't take a bottle to bed. But sometimes you're just too tired to care. Last night was one of those times.

So, yesterday pretty much sucked. But you know, it could have been worse. First, still pregnant, and still feeling good. Second, kind of enjoyed some of the driving. Comedian Louis CK does a bit about when you're a parent, the only vacation you get is those few seconds between strapping your kids into their car seats and then walking around the car to your seat. For me, driving is my "break". I know he's safe, we're only out when he's neither hungry nor with a dirty diaper. So it's the one time I don't have to keep an eye on him nor do any parenting at all, other than toss him things to play with or ask how he's doing from time to time. It's awesome. So during the times he was 't screaming, the sitting in traffic wasn't so bad.

Also he didn't object to being kept in his stroller the entire time at the party, thank God. I just couldn't cope with chasing him around at yet another outdoor party full of hazards. So he ate a tortilla contentedly and charmed everyone while I *gasp* actually got to eat something and have a few snippets of conversation. It was a miracle.

Today I'm having a much needed girl date for lunch and a movie while B goes to the baby kennel. I've been looking forward to this for weeks. Sometimes it's the little things, you know?