T-minus five days…

…till the kids and I are off to T.O. for three weeks.

I was really, really worried about how it would go to take the kids there and stay in Big N’s house which is very not kid oriented. And what would I do with them all day? And where would we go and how would I find my way around with two kids and etc. But it is all shaping up to be doable with a little research and routine setting. So the whole thought of the trip doesn’t quite make me collapse in a fit of exhaustion just thinking about it, but it will still be a lot of work.

N will be working Monday and Tuesday, taking Wednesdays off, and then working Thursdays and Fridays. So on probably the Wednesdays, we will do touristy stuff like the CN tower, Riverdale Farm, the Zoo, etc. Weekends will be spent mostly on researching the area, neighborhoods, churches, real estate, etc. So it is the four days when it will be the kids and I in the nearly toyless, no-TV-having house trying to figure out what to do with ourselves.

I think I have a basic plan. I’m taking the mac and their school books and basic art supplies. The morning will be modified school. Modified because it will be more book and computer program heavy and less manipulatives and craft oriented. Then in the afternoons, an outing. I want to try to narrow our outings down to maybe two-four places so Little N won’t go apeshit on me with the lack of structure. Little A is fine anywhere as long as he is sufficiently occupied. So, I’ve found and routed out a library, an indoor playground, shopping all the little stores on Ronces*valles Avenue, and an outdoor playground  (huge. Big N lives walking distance to High Park. Weather permitting, we can be occupied for days in there). We can watch DVDs on the computer, so we can go to the library and get some and books and stuff. I’m sure I can think up some crafts on the fly once I get there. I might also seek out a goodwill and see about picking up some cheap toys and puzzles. Weather permitting again, we might be able to spend some time on the lake as well. It is spring break there as well the first week, so some of N’s friends with kids have even offered us playdates or trips to the museums and stuff. There will be plenty to do.

I have always liked scouting out new cities and figuring out my way around. Being blind and not being able to read signs and hear announcements and stuff but still being able to figure stuff out is almost like a recreational activity for me. I love the challenge of it. I love being dropped in a city with a big public transit system and starting from scratch. It gets my brain pumping and my juices flowing. When I was working, I travelled several times to Washington, D.C., San Diego, and Indianapolis of all places and got good enough to call the public transit familiar and to at least know my way around to the major stuff. It’s fun. More challenging with kids, but fun nonetheless. When I went through orientation and mobility training under blindfold, they would drive us around the city in circles and then kick us out of the car and tell us to find our way back. It was actually called a “drop.”  It horrified some people but to me it was like a sport. I loved finding the clues to the mystery and putting it all together.

From my last trip to T.O. I went everywhere with N. So I feel like I at least got an orientation to how transit works there. How you buy tokens, where you put your token, how you know which side of the subway stairs to go down to go the right way, where the main subway lines run. So that is a start. I also have a feeling for cardinal directions there already (I have the Brain Compass thing where I typically know at all times where north, south, east, and west are. Even inside buildings usually. Another habit I attribute to good O&M training.) Anyway, I’m getting kind of psyched for the kids and I to hit the town solo.

I’ve been prepping the kids. We have “toured” N’s house with video chat. We have looked online at pictures of Toronto and N’s neighborhood and High Park and stuff. They are fascinated by this whole notion of “Twanto.”

“Are there grocery stores in Twanto?*”

“Are there toys in Twanto?”

“Is there a bed for me in Twanto?”

“Will I have my big boy underpants in Twanto?”

“Does Twanto have nighttime?”

“Can we have oatmeal for breakfast in Twanto, too?”

“Does Twanto have Thomas?”

“Are there spaceships in Twanto?”

“Can we take myblueblanketandmyyellowblanket to Twanto?”

“Can we take daddy to Twanto?”

It goes on like this all day. The daddy thing is going to be a big deal. They are extremely dismayed about the fact that he is not coming with us. We will be doing daily video chats and I will be posting pictures for him to sort of see what they did during the day and know what to ask about. So, this will kind of be a test run to see how they do. Does it start off bad and get better? Does it start of good and get worse? Is it the same throughout? Does talking about him and doing more video chats help? Does talking about him less help keep their minds off of missing him? We will have to see. But it has been very, very important to them to know that they are coming back home. I think it is important that we are honest with them and build their trust in the fact that daddy is still there and we are still coming back to see him. So, we’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I need to narrow down what we are taking and figure out how to manage cane, kid, other kid, luggage, airplane toys and snacks, plane tickets and passports, etc. through security and customs at three different airports, two light rail systems and one bus.  I figure it can’t be any worse than managing guide dog, luggage, medication, IV pump, IV lines, wound vac tubes, batteries and accouterments, seating system for the airplane seat to prevent pressure sores, power wheelchair with batteries that need to be removed at the gate, aisle chair and transferring a sickly 100 pound 6 foot dangly quadriplegic, right? It’s not like I haven’t had my hands full before. Its all strategy.

*Every time I go off on how Canada is for all practical purposes like the U.S. and not another planet, I find something strange there. Did you know that they buy their gallon (4 liter) milk in bags? BAGS! That is like the weirdest thing ever. But, okay…good for the environment? Isn’t plastic like, bad? And isn’t cardboard cartons, like, better? I don’t know, I’m asking? Also…this whole concept of clipping the corners and plopping it in a pitcher exposes your milk to the fridge environment and spillage and…yuck? And how not happy I would be the first time I shred that bag on a button or something when I’m carrying it on the bus/stroller/with grabby kids. I do it to the cat litter all the time. AND doesn’t exposing milk to light (clear plastic) do something to the vitamin D? I’m not saying the plastic cartons are better, but I don’t think this is there yet as far as environmental advantages go.