Thursday, June 17, 2010

Managing

This is how we manage on days when...

the threat of rain looms from dawn to dusk.
the playground playdate is cancelled.
the morning is spent beautifying baby and mama and packing and prepping for a lunch date with daddy.
but daddy gets an urgent work assignment just as baby and mama stroller up to the door of his office.
so lunch is off.
and the threat of rain immediately becomes a reality.
mama and baby duck into a bagel shop for a consolation / wait-out-the-rain lunch.
but baby just wants to know what happened to the much-hyped lunch with daddy.
naptime ends about an hour and a half too soon.
baby potties the floor twice.
and throws food all over the living room.
and is in major destruction mode.
it's hours until bedtime.
it's even more hours until daddy gets home.
and mama is feeling waaaaaay tired.

Because manage we must.

We hit the streets.

First up, we buy a $2 bottle of water from our favorite hotdog vendor.  Worth every penny, as it keeps the little guy entertained for roughly 45 minutes.
We hunt down our favorite flock of pigeons.
And watch the birds.  From the confines of the stroller.  'Cuz pigeons, you know, make a bit of a mess.
When that loses its appeal, we move on to where we can stretch our legs.
A place we can get our hands dirty, but not tooooo dirty.
Where we can watch skateboarders.
Run the stroller.
Pick up sticks.
And--somewhere along the way--just 'managing' turns into a pretty nice evening with my boy.

5 comments:

Sara said...

Sometimes your worst day turns into your best. In this case I would say you turned a not so good day into a fantastic day!! Way to go!!

Aunt Betty said...

How sweet! You also have the option as I did for the impromptu trip to the beach. We would get all the stuff we needed bath towels, toys, beach food, bathing suit etc. go in the bedroom fly to Hawaii disembark into the bathroom put a little cold water in the tub to play. when that got boring we would move on to the water fall i.e. turn on the shower play a little longer get out eat the snacks etc. I of course had to be the life guard so I sat on the potty and watched.

BettieBoyd said...

Lots of blessings in all of this, Baby Girl! Going gets tough, tough go strolling. I recognize A's favorite Navy Memorial. All my love.

Wanting What I Have said...

Ahhh...life. :)

I wish I was there and could take your little guy out for a bit, or clean up that food all over the living room. Hang in there. You are doing wonderfully!

(Can I tell you how often, while I was pregnant, my children ate (and sometimes still eat) dinner in the bathtub - sometimes lunch and dinner - and how many magazines and books I've read sitting on the lid of the toilet, while they splash and play?! If all else fails, perhaps the tub might contain the chaos for a bit. And food, it washes right down the drain.)

Praying for you!

Julie said...

You managed quite well - Andrew looks pretty content!
p.s. I loved Aunt Betty's escape to Hawaii trip!