The Party-Master liveth...

This is not my first rodeo. Oddly enough, the man and I have both done cross Canada drives before, when we were single entities. You can imagine then, that embarking on this quest together would be easy-peasy, right? Dual knowledge and experience...two heads are better than one, et cetera. et cetera, ad nauseum. Shall we see how planning is shaping up?
Here is my map:


View Road Trip! in a larger map
I have painstakingly planned out 2 routes depending on how the little Pirate reacts to long stretches in the car.  I have hotels, meals, rest stops, and sight seeing, all worked in.  There is a backup plan for my back up plan.  Seriously, I am pretty proud of myself, considering I only discovered this 'planning ahead thing' after having an offspring. The man thinks this is hilarious. He is still stuck in the fantasy world where we can be free spirited hippies with long hair and crazy ideas, like 'we'll see how it goes', and 'we can figure it out along the way.
Here is his version of the map:


View Man's Map in a larger map

Here is the million dollar question...when did he become cooler than me? Honestly it is happening so slowly, I almost didn't recognize the signs. When we were the DINK-y couple that we were for so many years, I was most defnitely the cool one. The chillaxed one, the partymaster. The 'stop thinking about your RRSP and have a beer' one. Now I am buying life insurance and agonizing over who will look after the little Pirate if we die in a firey car crash on the way to update our wills.
Why do Dads always get to be the chill ones, while Mums run around with nagging voices and Purell? I always insisted I would never be 'that Mum', but here I am knee deep in emergency food kits for the trunk, buying multiple Bunny's in case we lose one in a gas station bathroom (She can't sleep without Bunny Bun-Bun), and frantically making homemade baby food to take on the road with us. (Do you really thing i can get organic vegetables on the road in Northern Ontario?)
All this has lead to an epiphany:  I can still be cucumber-Mum (as in 'as cool as a') IF I plan appropriately. Yes, this is fantastic. What better way to safeguard your ability to be relaxed and spontaneous than to make sure you have a plan. I know this sounds a little oxymoronic, but it has to work, because there is no way I am letting the Dude in my house be the only cool one.
 I believe part of being a good Mum is not losing the person you were before. This is something you have to work at. Having a baby is a profound experience, it's only natural to change, but you are in control of that change. Take a Mum's night off, have some wine, read a book, hang with friends, go to an art museum, take a class, whatever it is that allows you to forget about dirty diapers and RESP's for a few hours. I am definitely a better Mum the day after I have had grown up time.
We can all still be Party-Masters, just with altered hours of operation. So, bring on the fun, I can let loose, as long as I have the baby sunscreen in my bag.