Talking to Elephants
One of the great probably not-so-secret secrets to enjoying parenthood is to ENJOY parenthood ie: do enjoyable stuff. As much enjoyable stuff as you can possibly do.
I have resigned myself to the fact that I cannot put in a decent work day or get much of anything done with my nanny temporarily out of comish. So, now that I’m once again a stay at home mom, I’ve been less obsessed with nap schedules and more interested in having fun– planning adventures. Great adventures and small adventures and anything I can think of that Archer might find interesting, even if it means hanging out in pet stores for hours watching hooded rats sniff the corners of their cages, or pulling over when lost to run around an abandoned park in search of trees to hug. (Archer’s going through a serious tree-hugging phase.)
There is a horribly cheesy quote that has been passed around fourteen
squillion times about “dancing like no one is looking” made famous by
chain mail spam and high school girl’s yearbook pages but there is a
lot of truth in those trite, overused words.
Parenthood, in a way, has been liberating, because I don’t really care what anyone thinks of me, anymore. So long as Archer likes my chicken-dance or thinks its funny when I talk to stuffed animals at the Natural History Museum, I’m cool.
It may have taken me a few weeks, but I have finally managed to relax and am starting to really enjoy these days with no real schedule other than the one I draw with squiggled blobs in crayon. I know that soon Archer will be in preschool and I won’t have these long days with him anymore– the two of us decked out in stickers and museum buttons and zoo pamphlets and ice-cream stains.
And no matter what I might have said to the contrary, there really is nothing better than talking to stuffed elephants behind dirty railings, or staring into the preserved eyes of a Megamouth shark on a Tuesday afternoon hand in hand with my favorite wide-eyed adventurer.
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Don’t Forget Bob Baker’s Puppet and Marionette Theatre for your next adventure–I won’t rest until you go there!
aw, I wish we had museums where I lived.
It is fun, especially seeing old things new again with fresh eyes. I must have been to our zoo a cajillion times before this summer, but taking my son for the first time made it an exciting adventure again. Time is really precious. Enjoy!
I cannot wait to do stuff like this with my daughter. Right now she’s only nine weeks old, so she doesn’t have much appreciation for adventures (hell, I’m just glad she’s sleeping in her crib right now instead of her car seat -that’s enough of an adventure for now!) but I truly look forward to all the stuff you’re talking about.
Ack! It’s so much fun! But take advantage of that eensy meensie time to go shopping! And lunching! And bookstore-browsing. I miss those days. Sigh…
As for the Marionette Theatre… Totally forgot about that! Next on my list for sure.
I was out of work last year so I got to spend outrageous amounts of adventure time with Jack. Now that I’m working again though the quality time I get with my boys is in the morning when my youngest son chews on an upright Bissell with a low-carpet setting and the eldest uses the potty during my wash, rinse and repeat cycle. In the evening Kathleen and I sprawl exhausted on the kitchen linoleum as Adam hums a vibrating rendition of Camptown Races into a kazoo and Jack dangles from the crown molding like Tom Cruise on a rock face in Mission Impossible 2, minus the extreme Scientology and Katie Holmes brainwashing. Oh, de doo-da day. I miss those lazy days of parks and museums and mini-golf and eating lunch at the beach …. I’d give anything to have them back
I can’t WAIT until my kiddos are actually mature and conscious enough to appreciate excellent adventures like this. What fun.