8/12/2013

Kids only. No adults allowed.



So summer is officially over, and now that Zachary is back in school full time (can I get a HELL YEAH!) things are slowly returning to our "new normal," which is our "previous normal."

Summer was fun - SUPER fun for the boys - but truth be told, I'm exhausted.

We (and often just me when R was working) took the boys to every water park, amusement park, park park, library, bookmobile, swimming pool, bounce house, lazer tag, ice cream shop, and carnival in a four state radius.

We stayed BUSY.

This was mainly by design because Zachary is a child who craves constant stimulation and action, and  it is easier and better for all of us to just give in to it for a couple months than to try to bore it out of him.  He's just wired that way, and although it goes against all that is me, I know it keeps him ticking.

Anyway, in our quest for the perfect summer vacation (for Zachary) we were constantly on the go to kid-friendly destinations, and I was AMAZED! SHOCKED! SOMEWHAT APPALLED! at the number of times I would see an adult or two - WITHOUT CHILDREN - lounging around and participating and having a grand old time.  In places that (in my mind, anyway) were designed for and meant for kids.

Now I try not to judge (Oh, who am I kidding? ) but seriously, you grown up people who are running up the stairs and sliding down the slides at Great Wolf Lodge, or running around, shaking your wands at things at MagiQuest, or who are spending the day at a carnival, eating cotton candy and riding the merry-go-round?  I don't understand you.

Truly, these are all great places to take my kids, for sure, but you can bet your sweet little patootie that the MINUTE my kids outgrow those places will be the minute I stop going there.  R and I dream of a time when we can go to grown up places occasionally, like little shops with breakable things, or wineries, or a movie without a singing animal in sight.

Maybe it's just me, though.  Maybe it's because I have a underdeveloped sense of fun, or maybe I'm just a stick in the mud or whatever.  Maybe I should want to spend my time at Chuck E. Cheese long after my babies have gone off to college.

I guess my idea of a good time is a little different.

In my dreams of good times past and future (but rarely present, because HELLO! Raising kids here!) I enjoy reading, laying on the couch with complete control of the remote, and sewing.

Seriously.  That's about all.

And someday, when the days of HANDS ON INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS! at the children's museum, or knowing which parks have the swings that go the highest, or planning our water park adventure just so, in order to ride the big tube the maximum number of times are all behind me, I'm sure I'll miss it a little bit.

But really, just a little bit.

And certainly not enough to go there, voluntarily, without children.

Because that?  That's just crazy talk.

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3 comments:

  1. Those people will probably switch over to your side once they have kids and HAVE to go to those places. Me? I dream of adults-only hours at museums. Any museums.

    Just once I'd like to read the text by an exhibit instead of having it blocked by little kid heads or use an interactive thingy without some child walking up and saying "excuse me" like it means "It's my turn now because I say so."

    ...and I've just decided to finally check out The Museum of Sex. Though I suspect there may be a bunch of college kids crowding up the place.

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    1. If I could go to museums during off hours - or for a private deal or something - I would probably love them. But crowded places make me grumpy, and crowded places where everyone is trying to look at the exact same thing at the exact same time makes me murder-y.

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  2. The museum of sex was fascinating but it says something about me that the most interesting floor was the level dedicated to animals and their sexual behaviors. I watched a video of a turtle masturbating on the stairs in a loop far more times than was necessary. I WAS JUST SO CURIOUS!!

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