The following comparisons assume that I bring the baby to the event. I have a debate with myself before every event about bringing him, but I’ll save that for another post.
1. Eat/Sleep/Autocross becomes Eat/Parent/Autocross. I realized it was appropriate to replace sleep. Because what is sleep? I don’t think I need to say much about this one. Anyone who is a parent knows that you don’t sleep, at least not like you used to, once you have a baby. I’m not really sure what happens as the baby gets older, but I’m optimistic that I’ll sleep again someday. Also, my baby seems to have a sixth sense and almost always wakes up at least once in the middle of the night when I have to be up early the next morning. According to my FitBit, I got a whopping 3 hours and 27 minutes of sleep before heading to NJ for the ProSolo.
2. The night before an event. Before baby: grab your helmet, wheel (depending on what car I’m driving), GoPro, lots of water, sunblock, and maybe some snacks and/or a packed lunch. After baby: all of that, plus milk, ice packs and cooler, food for the baby, baby sunblock, stroller, toys, blanket, tent, hat, baby wearing wrap, extra nipples if the baby is still on a bottle (because how many times have i left the house with bottles of milk and no nipples?), cleaning supplies for the dirty nipples (although how many times have i actually cleaned the nipples after the baby finished his bottle?), bibs, washcloths, diapers, wipes, extra clothes for when he gets dirty, pajamas for the ride home if it’s going to be late, and probably some other things I don’t remember right now. When MJ was less than a year old, I was still nursing, which meant making sure the pump was charged, bringing enough bottles or bags for storage, cooler packs, and pumping accessories. Note: there is a Babies R Us in Leominster if you are up at Devens and realize you forgot something. Just make sure you tell an ops steward you need to run out and get someone to cover your work shift if you aren’t back in time.
3. Onsite car prep. Before baby: empty car, change tires, adjust shocks, check tire pressures, add air if necessary, set up GoPro, put numbers on car, head to grid. After baby: make sure baby has breakfast, change diaper, put sunblock on baby, hand baby off to someone who isn’t driving the same heat, head to grid…Okay, so I suppose I can still help with car stuff, but if I’m not busy chasing the baby around, I’m just too tired to do anything else. See #1.
4. Walk course. Before baby: walk with co-driver, analyze the course, identify key cones, plan your lines, discuss braking zones, other stuff that good drivers do. After baby: figure out where the start is, push the stroller around course, tend to baby if he gets cranky, chit chat with whoever decided to give up a serious coursewalk and walk with me, find the finish.
5. Drive. Before baby: think about the plan you created on the coursewalk, drive it!. After baby: stay awake! See #1 again. Look at my ProSolo reaction times before and after baby. I think I may have actually been asleep at the wheel.
6. Pack up. Before baby: change tires and adjust shocks, pack up, hang out, and wait for trophies. After baby: consider leaving early if you have the last heat off. You probably don’t get to stay for trophies even if you miraculously win your class but it’s probably fine if your husband has won so much glassware that you’re out of storage space.
Mommas, what has changed at autocross for you?