Casa Construction

Things are a little bit hectic around Casa Lane this week, my friends.  In addition to the usual insanity that is being pregnant and taking care of a toddler, I have construction workers here doing enough repairs to practically build a new house.  Remember when I thought we might have to move out of our duplex because our landlord decided to sell the place?  The good news is that we don't have to move and our new landlady is AH-MAZING.  The bad news is that the place is essentially falling down around our ears and that in order to avoid being buried under a pile of plaster dating from 1922 when the next Earthquake hits, we're going to have to put up with a few weeks of home repairs.

Here's the problem: the biggest repair that has to be done is, essentially, a complete re-do of our bathroom.  While on the one hand I'm thrilled that we will no longer have to live with a tub that refuses to hold water and a cracked toilet (slumlord, anyone?), we have to make ourselves scarce for two weeks while they do all the construction, and by "make ourselves scarce" I mean actually live somewhere else.  Before I had a child I would've thrilled at the idea of a forced vacation and would've spent hours and hours planning some sort of exciting getaway.  Now that I'm the primary caretaker for a small being who doesn't respond well to his schedule being disturbed, I'm dreading our forced vacancy.  Honestly, I can't even get the Muffin Man to nap in the Pack n Play at his Nana's house, so I'm not sure how well he's going to handle having to sleep in the thing at night in a strange location.  I suspect that I'm in for a rather brutal stretch of sleepless nights and a fussy toddler, but at least I'll be able to take a nice, long bubble bath to reward me for my trials when we return.

I wish that we could all hightail it to Hawaii for a few weeks so that at least we would be exhausted in a tropical paradise, but the Hubby is in the midst of opening two restaurants back-to-back and can barely get away from work for a meal and a few hours of sleep each night.  Needless to say he's none too thrilled about our upcoming sabbatical either, but at least he's not prone to tantrums.

So, I'm turning to you, dear readers: what advice can you give me about being away from home with a toddler in tow?  Where shall we go, and how do I keep the Muffin Man from completely falling to pieces?  Should I simply check myself into the nut house now and call it a day?