I knew that having a baby changes everything. Clearly. I mean, I've seen the shampoo commercials. But Johnson & Johnson didn't prepare me for the playground. Actually, I didn't know that I NEEDED to be prepared for the playground. It all seemed so straightforward. Slides, swings, kids. No problem. But there's more. There is a whole playground dynamic outside the wooden boundary. Its with the parents.
I was sitting at a Chick Fil A playground watching Peyton play with five other kids of varying ages when I realized that I felt strangely self conscious. All of a sudden questions like, "should I stop him from following that girl around?" (it might creep ME out) and "do I seem like a bad parent for not helping my kid when he yells for me to help him up the stairs?" (our playground 'deal' is- if you can't get there on your own, you can't go) were popping into my otherwise confident (ha!) mind.
And it's not that anyone seemed to be judging. In fact the other parents were perfectly friendly to me and Peyton. But the dynamic is weird. Especially when it's my kid following the girl around. Really, he was just trying to play with her and she wasn't having it. (they start young) But, to my relief, another child showed up who was screaming. I mean, SCREAMING. All. The. Time. At the top of her lungs. She climbed to the top of the play structure and she screamed. She slid down the slide and she screamed. She walked across the rubber floor and she screamed. And apparently she really does do this all the time. She wasn't upset, just expressing herself. Her daddy was really embarassed but clearly defeated. He apologized to the rest of us a couple of times. I really had no problem with his daughter. I was glad she was screaming outside instead of inside. It changed the thought from 'do these people mind that my kid is learning social rules with their kids?' to 'glad i'm not that guy'. And the dynamic shifts.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Another one for the books
I forgot this one earlier:
When we were leaving the grocery store we passed a man dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt and a cowboy hat. I never thought a thing about it until Peyton said 'Giddy up cowboy' as he passed. Either the man didn't hear or he nicely ignored us because he walked on inside. I really need to work on my 'please-excuse-my-child's-developing-vocabulary' speech. For the record, though, it was pretty funny.
When we were leaving the grocery store we passed a man dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt and a cowboy hat. I never thought a thing about it until Peyton said 'Giddy up cowboy' as he passed. Either the man didn't hear or he nicely ignored us because he walked on inside. I really need to work on my 'please-excuse-my-child's-developing-vocabulary' speech. For the record, though, it was pretty funny.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Peyton-isms
When Peyton and I sat down to eat dinner tonight, I said a prayer and then Peyton asked if he could say a prayer. Of course I said yes and he proceeded to say an identical prayer to the one I said. When he said "blessings" it sounded more like "disgusting" but I think his heart was in the right place. :) I was so proud!
Then at the grocery store I got a watermelon and asked him if he would like some in his lunch box. He said "well it won't fit". I told him I would cut it up so that it would fit and he just kind of looked at me like, "I really don't see how it will fit." I kind of wish I could see him open his lunch today and see his reaction (if there is one) because when he asked for more watermelon last night I told him he could have more in his lunch box tomorrow and, again, he said 'it won't fit'. I wonder if he will think it is something else in the lunch box.
Just had to share the latest Peyton-isms!
Then at the grocery store I got a watermelon and asked him if he would like some in his lunch box. He said "well it won't fit". I told him I would cut it up so that it would fit and he just kind of looked at me like, "I really don't see how it will fit." I kind of wish I could see him open his lunch today and see his reaction (if there is one) because when he asked for more watermelon last night I told him he could have more in his lunch box tomorrow and, again, he said 'it won't fit'. I wonder if he will think it is something else in the lunch box.
Just had to share the latest Peyton-isms!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The "Stories" from Fort Worth
There really isn't a dull moment when Peyton is around. This weekend was no exception! He supplied me with two speechless moments.
My 'favorite' was the night we arrive in Ft Worth. We all went to check out the pool at our very nice hotel just to see if we might be interested in swimming. It didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful pool but it was completely packed and was adjacent to an outdoor bar area that looked like it had been taken from a Miami hotel rooftop. It was full of well dressed people enjoying their holiday weekend. We were glad we had seen the pool area but we were very happy to go back upstairs to our comfortable room. I knew Peyton was right in front of me but I wasn't actually looking at him so when we turned to leave and I took Peyton's hand, I realized that he stepped over something. It was his shoes, pants and underwear. He had (quickly) undressed and was ready to swim! Right there in the middle of this scene from a Miami rooftop. I was mortified for about a second and then I was laughing too hard to get his clothes back on as quickly as I wanted. Of course, he was heartbroken that we weren't swimming but I told him we could put on his suit and come back down. But by the time we got upstairs, he decided a shower would be just as fun and so we got to skip the pool. That story was funny, even to me.
The second story is Kristine's favorite. It is only slightly funny to me. Maybe in 20 years it will be funnier. We were in a hand-made jewelry store at the Stockyards and Andrea was looking at a piece of jewelry. The rest of us had already looked and Peyton, Kathy and I were standing/sitting off to the side of the store. It was a small store so we were trying to stay out of the way. Kathy was sitting in a chair along a wall, Peyton was in the stroller facing her beside the wall and I was standing behind him. (So Kathy was facing the store and we were facing her side) I had given him a bottle of water to drink while we cooled off inside the store. All of a sudden Kathy looked at Peyton, gasped and had a look of horror on her face so I looked down and Peyton was holding out the bottle of water and squeezing it so that the water gushed out. I had the same reaction as Kathy and we got the bottle out of his hands as quickly as we could but there was still a puddle in the carpet in front of Peyton. Of course, everyone in the store saw what happened and one of the sales ladies got a towel to dry it up. The store didn't have a posted 'no children' policy but it certainly wasn't toy's-r-us. The other sales lady probably would have had a worse reaction if she hadn't been trying to push a sale on Andrea. The much nicer woman who helped us was very cheerful and assured me that worse things had been spilled in the store. I was still mortified but I could have handled that. But as she was kneeling down in front of Peyton to soak up the mess he had made, he points to the floor and says 'wipe that up'. I almost died. Seriously. I continued to apologize profusely to the woman my son was ordering around and she continued to be very cheerful. And then Peyton and I left the store as quickly as possible.
Somehow Peyton and I are both still alive to tell the story and, I'm sure, encounter another 'teachable moment'.
My 'favorite' was the night we arrive in Ft Worth. We all went to check out the pool at our very nice hotel just to see if we might be interested in swimming. It didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful pool but it was completely packed and was adjacent to an outdoor bar area that looked like it had been taken from a Miami hotel rooftop. It was full of well dressed people enjoying their holiday weekend. We were glad we had seen the pool area but we were very happy to go back upstairs to our comfortable room. I knew Peyton was right in front of me but I wasn't actually looking at him so when we turned to leave and I took Peyton's hand, I realized that he stepped over something. It was his shoes, pants and underwear. He had (quickly) undressed and was ready to swim! Right there in the middle of this scene from a Miami rooftop. I was mortified for about a second and then I was laughing too hard to get his clothes back on as quickly as I wanted. Of course, he was heartbroken that we weren't swimming but I told him we could put on his suit and come back down. But by the time we got upstairs, he decided a shower would be just as fun and so we got to skip the pool. That story was funny, even to me.
The second story is Kristine's favorite. It is only slightly funny to me. Maybe in 20 years it will be funnier. We were in a hand-made jewelry store at the Stockyards and Andrea was looking at a piece of jewelry. The rest of us had already looked and Peyton, Kathy and I were standing/sitting off to the side of the store. It was a small store so we were trying to stay out of the way. Kathy was sitting in a chair along a wall, Peyton was in the stroller facing her beside the wall and I was standing behind him. (So Kathy was facing the store and we were facing her side) I had given him a bottle of water to drink while we cooled off inside the store. All of a sudden Kathy looked at Peyton, gasped and had a look of horror on her face so I looked down and Peyton was holding out the bottle of water and squeezing it so that the water gushed out. I had the same reaction as Kathy and we got the bottle out of his hands as quickly as we could but there was still a puddle in the carpet in front of Peyton. Of course, everyone in the store saw what happened and one of the sales ladies got a towel to dry it up. The store didn't have a posted 'no children' policy but it certainly wasn't toy's-r-us. The other sales lady probably would have had a worse reaction if she hadn't been trying to push a sale on Andrea. The much nicer woman who helped us was very cheerful and assured me that worse things had been spilled in the store. I was still mortified but I could have handled that. But as she was kneeling down in front of Peyton to soak up the mess he had made, he points to the floor and says 'wipe that up'. I almost died. Seriously. I continued to apologize profusely to the woman my son was ordering around and she continued to be very cheerful. And then Peyton and I left the store as quickly as possible.
Somehow Peyton and I are both still alive to tell the story and, I'm sure, encounter another 'teachable moment'.
Our day in Fort Worth
The night we arrived in Ft Worth, Kathy's friend Andrea, took us to the Ft Worth Water Gardens near our hotel. It is an architectural garden with three pools and water features throughout.
Peyton and Kristine were watching the falling water pool.
Peyton putting his feet in the Quiet Pool.
Monday we went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards. They stage a cattle drive down the main street twice a day. Peyton thought that was pretty neat. He learned to say 'Longhorn'. I took this picture from our table at the restaurant where we ate lunch.
Andrea wanted to ride a camel and she took Peyton with her.
He wasn't scared at all and had a great time!
Peytona lso got to ride a pony.
He got a nice long ride and thought it was fun.
Then we took a carriage ride. That was a lot of fun, too.
After spending all that time with the animals outside, we went into some shops to cool down.
We found a place to sit down in the lobby of a hotel.
We visited one more shop and then caught our train back to OKC. It was a very fun trip!
Peyton asked me if we could ride the big train again on our way to Kathy's Tuesday morning!
I thought he would surely be too tired to ask for that!! (I know I am!)
Peyton's First Train Ride
It was an early morning but Peyton was excited to ride the train!
We had to wait a bit for it to arrive.
It was pretty exciting when it came!
Finally we got to our seats. We had 'family seating' where four seats faced each other. That was great!
On the ride to Fort Worth, we sat in the front of the second car. That was a pretty nice place to ride.
On the way back home, we sat in the same area of the front car right behind the engine.
That ride was much louder from the engine and horn.
Peyton spent most of the time looking out the window.
The first hour or so, he wouldn't even talk to us.
He was too busy watching things go by.
Several times we rode through train yards.
Several times we rode through train yards. Peyton thought those were pretty neat!
Sorry there are no pictures of our train itself.
It seemed like everytime the train was in the right place to take a picture I was busy boarding.
Oh well! I'll have to take a picture of it another time.
Oh well! I'll have to take a picture of it another time.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Its a strange new world
of 3-year old questions.
Every morning Peyton and I count the school busses we pass on the way to Nana's house. (there are 7)
One morning we were stopped at a light & could see a bus also stopped at the light. Peyton was quiet for just a second and then asked... 'why bus short'? (Translation: 'Why is that bus shorter than the others?') I was quiet for more than a second while my brain spun trying to find an answer I wouldn't mind him sharing with all of the children in his class. Or an unsuspecting family member.
Then I got a grip on my 3-yr old thinking and told him it was because some busses didn't need to carry as many people.
Peyton said 'okay'. The light turned green and Peyton never knew that we had just had a groundbreaking conversation.
Okay, maybe groundbreaking isnt quite the right word. But it did shake me to the realization that Peyton has been storing up all these questions for the year that he couldn't talk and now... watch out! I'm in big trouble.
Today we sang about elephants and spiders and marching and avoided questions altogether. Maybe this is a good routine.
Every morning Peyton and I count the school busses we pass on the way to Nana's house. (there are 7)
One morning we were stopped at a light & could see a bus also stopped at the light. Peyton was quiet for just a second and then asked... 'why bus short'? (Translation: 'Why is that bus shorter than the others?') I was quiet for more than a second while my brain spun trying to find an answer I wouldn't mind him sharing with all of the children in his class. Or an unsuspecting family member.
Then I got a grip on my 3-yr old thinking and told him it was because some busses didn't need to carry as many people.
Peyton said 'okay'. The light turned green and Peyton never knew that we had just had a groundbreaking conversation.
Okay, maybe groundbreaking isnt quite the right word. But it did shake me to the realization that Peyton has been storing up all these questions for the year that he couldn't talk and now... watch out! I'm in big trouble.
Today we sang about elephants and spiders and marching and avoided questions altogether. Maybe this is a good routine.
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