29 September 2010

Liberty Island

Once again, I have made the trip to New Jersey. For once, to do my cancer walk and then to spend time with grandma, and then there is a wedding to go to! I haven't seen my aunt for over a year now, and when I suggested to her to come and visit me over here for a week, she actually booked a flight. She is here since Sunday, so for about four days now. BUT, and here comes the big but..... since I got to Jersey, fall has really hit me over here. No more 90 degrees! But 70 and RAIN. Yes, rain and rain and rain. It's great for my kid that wants to "dance in the rain", but not when you have visitors from Germany. So today, finally, the sun came out and we headed out to see Statue of Liberty.

I will post pictures at home here!!!

But what I want to write about is traveling with children! I am of the opinion that traveling is not that much of a big deal, with or without children. Sure, how much nicer is it to sit in an airplane and be able to read a book, instead of having to watch that your kid doesn't spill the very little drink you got! But then, would we see the river flowing underneath us? Would we feel the thrill of 'bumping' to the ground (meaning the landing of an aircraft)? Would we get excited about a bug crawling on the car's window? Or would we get angry at an exploring kid in the ladies' room? My point? Well, it is not always easy, but sure can be fun!

So today, we had a tired 4-year-old and a happy 1-year-old. And that in itself is unusual. Because usually, my big boy is Mister Happy-Jack! And the little princess is Miss Whinny-whine! We had to drive for an hour to where the ferry leaves to the island. From the beginning, we knew to skip Ellis Island - the kids are just not big enough! So we stayed on board and went straight for Lady Liberty. Coqui was all excited about going on a ferry. But once there, he wanted to go back home! What was going through his mind? Peanut just has been sick and this was a very clingy illness. I am so happy that she is back to normal and lets go off me! So she was running after seagulls and loved that she was on the loose! We did not spend a whole lot of time on the island, just enough for my aunt to see what needs to be seen as a tourist, and enough for the kids to get tired! Well, I guess too tired!?! Because when we were waiting for the ferry to take us back to Jersey, I had a boy that had pied on himself because he couldn't wait to go to the bathroom. I had a baby in a stroller that didn't want to sit in it anymore! I mean enough is enough, right? Okay, here is the real reason why I write this post because it got me real ticked off! As a parent, have you ever felt like people are staring at you like you have no idea what you are doing??? Well that was ME today!!! And these people are not quite about it either! They talk! Right in ears' reach. Like: "oh, she is so tired!" Why can't they put her to sleep? "She needs a nap!" or "take her out"! Now I am asking: who is the mother? Don't I know all this? Don't I know what my kids need and don't need! They need God! They need love! They need food and clothes and a roof over their head! What they don't need are strangers with comments that are completely out of line! I was so mad, I actually said something to those "lovely" people! I said that they should stare somewhere else and take care of their own offspring!
I am so proud of myself!

Have a good night.

Btw: My baby had her two naps, like every day! She went to bed early. As did my son - he actually fell asleep on the floor tonight because he was so tired! But don't I know that??? I love them, and I think I give them enough time to sleep and grow!

1 comments:

C. Beth said...

Yeah, it's so annoying when people judge you not knowing you and your kids and what your day has been like! Sorry it was a rough day but you're right, traveling is a good thing even when it's not easy. And if we consider it "not a big deal" it usually isn't a big deal...and the difficult days are LESS of a big deal than they would be if we had a stressed-out expectation!