Reset

The kids and I… well, we haven’t been getting along lately.  Every day, the same old mom, the same old trip to school, the same old routine of rushing around, trying to get everything done, the same bedtime fights, the same, the same, the same.  With brief glimpses of the Fun Man (daddy) to take the edge off.  We play and read and cuddle together, but I am still, and have been, the main parental authority, dishing out directives and discipline for the past several weeks.

 

We needed a change, something to reestablish me as a person they enjoy being around.  Little do they know, they’re stuck with me.

 

So yesterday we played hookey, skipping out on work and preschool, and went to the zoo.

 

 

Jamie, of course, fell asleep 20 minutes before we got there.

 

The first stop is always the penguins.  Woodland Park Zoo has a wonderful penguin exhibit, and the slippery little guys put on a great show for the kids. 

 

 

Speaking of slippery, Charles and Jamie got to toss little fish to the penguins and learn, from a zookeeper, just how fast they can swim (17 miles per hour!).

 

 

I made them both walk a lot.  It might have been our “fun” day, but this mom knows that everything is more fun when sleep is inevitable at the end (plus, then I get to listen to my own music in the car while they nap).

 

After lunch (PB&J, apples, and cheese – we always bring lunch), we escaped the drizzle indoors at the Zoomazium, where the children fell all over the play structures and made some very loud music.

 

My little aquaman was in love with the just-my-size water fountains all over the zoo.

 

 

    

There are quite a few hidden “parks” within the zoo.  I would say that we stopped at every one except that we were there for four and a half hours and probably only saw 50% of the whole zoo.  More to see next time!

 

I am back in favor.  We had a wonderful trip with no tantrums.

 

And they were both exhausted.

 

I would say “The End” but it isn’t.  Next week, when we can finally say we are post-tax season, Tony and I will be taking another day off to spend it at home with the kids.  I hope to do this at least once a month just to keep the balance.  It’s good for them, it’s good for us, and it helps me to really enjoy them.  They get on my nerves as much as I get on theirs, and it is really healthy for us to have a day free of the constraints and demands of mom’s and dad’s jobs.

 

What’s that you say?  What about Saturday and Sunday?  Neither of those days are without constraints.  I sometimes go to work on the weekends, so does Tony, I have Baby Boot Camp on Saturday morning, Tony plays basketball on Sunday before church… it is rare to have a whole day without some sort of plan.

 

I know not everyone has the ability to do things like this with their children, especially not without planning ahead.  We’re pretty lucky.  I have to remind myself that loving this family means more than working and preparing food and cooking.  Maybe they don’t feel loved when I do those things, even though those actions are the principle ways I can show them how much I love them.  Maybe they need more experiences away from the drudgery of daily life. 

 

I think I’ll enjoy cooking up more day trips for all of us.