ChiKat

One of my big concerns about the South America trip is that I have been talking my husband into going on the trip. He loves the idea of the trip, too, but he is often in love with the *idea* of things and not the *actuality* of things.

I'm the one that usually plans trips and drags us out the door. Then he has a great time.

I think this trip will be the same, but if something goes wrong, I will feel like it was 100% my fault. We aren't making these decisions together. I am talking him into the decisions. So if something goes wrong, like the very likely chance that my son will get a headache from the high altitude, I will feel like it is my fault. If something serious goes wrong, like a bad reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccine, I will be buried under the guilt that I will pile on myself.

When we made medical decisions for our son before, like deciding about circumcision, we both believed very strongly in our opinions. I feel like we split the responsibility for the decision-making equally.

With this trip, my husband knows how much I want to see my brother, so I think he is letting me talk him into things that he isn't really comfortable with. That makes me feel the weight of responsibility even more.

At the same time, if I don't drag us out the door, I'm fairly convinced my husband wouldn't leave the condo until our son was 18.

On a day-to-day basis, my husband is much more daring and adventurous than me. He barrels down the mountain on his snowboard, zipping through the trees with no concern at all. I snow plow down at a snails pace.

But when it comes to our son, my husband is much more protective. I guess since I'm already so cautious, I don't feel the need to be MORE cautious just because I have a baby. My husband, on the other hand, has had to make some pretty big lifestyle changes to accommodate the pace of a baby. I think his pendulum swung from thrill-seeker to safety-net, but maybe it's still needs some fine-tuning because no matter how much I bundle that child up, my husband is always hovering with an extra blanket, an extra hat AND the suggestion that we just stay inside.