On the Road: living in a hotel

Our happy little family of four has been sharing a hotel room for the past eleven days. It hasn't been so bad, but I can understand those people who insist on an adjoining room for the kids. It makes sense.

For us, though, we are just too cheap. So at bedtime, my husband and I put the girls down in their sleeping bags on the floor. They get a book or two to look at, while we hog the king-sized bed with one or more computers. Either we are both working/surfing or we share a computer and watch a DVD together with headphones. Usually the girls will fall asleep while we are quiet and out of eyesight. But sometimes it takes a little convincing.

Last night, while hubby and I were settling down to watch Semi-Pro, the girls were quiet, at least until the soundtrack to the movie turned quiet. Then we noticed some suspicious giggling, so I switched on the bedside lamp to discover Madeleine, clad in nothing but her pullup, spread sideways over Emilie's form draped in her sleeping bag. Maddie was rocking back and forth, using nothing but her fingertips and toes for grip on the floor, her stomach clenched, supporting her full weight on Emilie's body. Back and forth back and forth... she looked like she was flying. She didn't appear to be giggling, however. In fact, she wasn't smiling at all, her face was contorted with her effort to arch her back, tighten her abs, and grip/push with her toes and fingers. The giggling was instead coming from the lump of pink sleeping bag being squashed and rocked. Apparently that was more fun.

So we threatened them and eventually they fell asleep, as they do every night. Once they are asleep, we can usually flip the lights back on and operate almost normally in the room with them. They are used to sleeping through these things.

In the past when traveling with the kids, I have brought a baby monitor. Good quality baby monitors can work pretty far and can especially help with bedtime. You can put the kids to bed, and slip out into the hallway, another room, or sometimes the lobby with the monitor to wait it out. Once all is quiet, you can sneak back in and turn the TV back on!