So Young Now...

WHY BOTHER

I keep trying to do things to make the kids' summer fun. It always seems to come back and bite me in the behind. Today we woke and decided to go to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. We thought the kids would love it, and honestly, I was looking forward to an enjoyable day out myself. It's been a long summer, without vacation. The ride down was long and noisy, as the kids were filled with excitement. After we arrived and parked the car, we walked through the lobby of a hotel to use the "facilities." I asked whether anyone had to go to the bathroom, and I was assured that no, everyone was fine. We went to the Inner Harbor and stood in a moderately long line to rent a dragon boat to paddle on the water. As we arrived at the front of the line, Max announced that he had to go to the bathroom. Heavy sigh from mom, and Kurt dragged him away to find a bathroom. I proceeded in line with Nicole and Jack. When it was our turn to rent a boat, I was told that there was a maximum of 4 in a boat, and yes even a little toddler who could be a lap-sitter counted as 1, so our family of 5 could not rent a boat. I went up to wait for Kurt, and when he returned we initially decided no boat rentals, but the kids went crazy, so we decided that Kurt and Nicole & Max would rent a boat. They went to wait in the same moderately-long line again to go for a boat ride while I walked around with Jack, who was just about due for a nap when we arrived, and he wasn't getting happier by the minute. He has never once fallen asleep in the stroller, but I was determined to get him to do it today, so I pushed him around for the next 45 minutes or so. No nap. When the kids were finished with the boat ride, they came out whining that they were hungry and thirsty. We walked around looking for a food court for a quick bite because I wanted to save the big meal for dinner; I envisioned a nice outdoor meal on the water with a cool breeze blowing around as the day was drawing to a close. Too much to ask?

Jack wanted pizza for lunch, of course Nicole and Max didn't. I left daddy and Jack and took the kids across the way to get chicken. One look at the food they were serving, and they whined that they didn't want that chicken they wanted a different kind of chicken. A little low on patience, I took them back to daddy and I told them they were getting pizza. Of course, daddy had already ordered so I had to get in the back of the line to order food for them. Tired Jack was getting into an increasingly foul mood during lunch. We then decided to walk around the harbor to see what we could see and to try to get Jack to take a nap. After about 2 steps (probably more like 100!) both Nicole and Max started whining: they were too hot, they were too tired, they couldn't walk any more, Max stopped and said he "absolutely could not" take another step! We put up with the whining for another 30 minutes before we decided that we had had enough. Of course, about 2 minutes before we arrived at the car, Jack fell asleep in his stroller! I knew he wouldn't go back to sleep once we transferred him to the car, but I wasn't about to keep walking when the kids already knew we were heading to the car. Nightmare drive home. Jack was screaming, we couldn't find I-95 and when we did, we were stuck in major traffic, adding another hour to our trip home. Nicole and Max were also tired, so they were bickering loudly much of the way home until I just wanted to scream!

So, no dinner on the water with the breeze blowing through our pleasant conversation. No memorable "what a great day, thanks for taking us mom and dad!" moments. But, I come away at least encouraged that Jack will fall asleep in his stroller. Except that the next time we try another day trip like this, when the kids are oh, 18 or so, Jack likely won't be needing a nap in his stroller to make it through the day!