Have you ever gone against your better judgment and taken the kids somewhere only to regret the decision?
I did and boy, I could have kicked myself for the choice! Some places are kid friendly yet not kid fun; the smart mom knows the difference and takes her kids to the kid fun places.
Oh no, I was not a smart mom and took my kids to the Parade of Homes. For some reason my mom thought that it would be a lot of fun to haul 2 kids through 8 show homes with a gazillion stairs and as many people.
I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea but she reminded me that AJ liked to go to other people’s houses and thinks that it is fun to see all of their stuff. I was weak minded and agreed, much to my dismay.
We got there and it was 90 degrees outside, they don’t allow any strollers, food or drink in the homes and the kids had breakfast 2 hours before we arrived. Disaster was written all over this plan. I had the stroller in case we needed it and parked it outside of each home. I had planned ahead and brought juice boxes and snacks.
After the first house, AJ was hot and thirsty. He drank his juice box and Boo drank half of the other. One house and we were almost out of juice. After that, we made about it one hour, 3 more houses, and the boys began to complain.
Boo started to get fussy even though we had carried him up all of the stairs. AJ wanted to sit down but all of the furniture was show furniture and he wasn’t allowed to sit anywhere. As we climbed the last set of stairs in house #4 he told me that his legs hurt, his feet were hot, and he was tired.
I thought, of course they do, we have 4 more houses to tour before lunch. I took them outside, set them in the shade under at tree and gave them some fruit snacks and the last half juice box to try to buy some time.
My dad put Boo into his stroller as we walked to the second half of homes. When we got there, we took Boo out of his stroller and he lost his mind, he was done. He was tired, hot and comfortable in his stroller yet we had the audacity to take him out again.
I carried him through house #5 as I made a deal with the boys. This was the last house that we would go through and then we would go cool off, sit down and get something to drink.
They agreed, we practically ran through the house, said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and went to the snack tent. They had not been so happy all day, a cherry slushy was a gift from heaven and they began to act like my kids again.
I was happy too, I had gotten hot, was tired of carrying Boo and frustrated with myself for my poor judgment. The break was much needed and a good end to an otherwise stressful day.
My parents finished house browsing alone and then we all went to get some lunch. I chose a kid fun place to eat and all was well with the world.
Next time I am going to listen to my better judgment and go alone to an event like the Parade of Homes. No matter how good of an idea it sounds to take them with me, I have learned my lesson and they will stay at the neighbors.
Off to make another Mommy Milestone.