our new motto

We have it a new motto in our household - "We did try." - and I think it can be used to sum up the past weekend.

We headed to Pennsylvania this past weekend to visit with family.  And it was somewhat of a big, fat fail with a bit of wonderful thrown in between and it all occurred in only a 12 hour time span.

The boys don't get to visit with Grandma & Grandpa Russell and Great Grandma Mimi all that often because of the distance between us.  So we try to make an effort to head to Pennsylvania whenever we get a rare free weekend.  The last time we traveled to Pennsylvania was at Thanksgiving and the boys were a whopping 6 months old.  And with the exception of all the stuff we had to pack for the boys the trip could be classified as super easy.  This time we made the trip with toddlers.  And there was nothing easy about it!  The boys did GREAT in the car.  But that's only because we finally became "those parents" and installed a DVD player in the car.  All we had to do was rotate snacks and keep Super Why on constant play and the boys were beyond content with life.  We made a stop on the way to Pennsylvania at Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland, Ohio.  Never been?  OMG!!  We have driven by it year after year after year and we have never taken the time to stop and take a look around.  We were missing out.  It is basically a mecca of cheeses and meats and snacks and sweets and just all around yummy goodness!  And there are about a bazillion free samples.  I did not need lunch afterwards.  And after about 45 minutes and a maxed out credit card later (only kidding) we got back on the highway towards Pennsylvania.  The boys only slept for about 30 minutes in the car.  We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Russell's at about 1:00 pm.  The grandparents are in the middle of a major house remodel so the boys had a blast exploring all the construction chaos.

The boys did not stop moving for the entire 2 hours we were at the house.  We had early dinner plans with Great Grandma Mimi so Kara and I loaded the boys up in the car around 3:00 pm and drove around Presque Isle with the hope that the boys would nap before dinner.  We only managed about another 30 minutes of sleep.  We got to Great Grandma Mimi's around 4:15 pm and the boys got to spend the next couple of hours exploring every inch of the condo.  Have I mentioned that they NEVER EVER stop moving?  But they loved every minute of the visit and Kara and I absolutely would not trade watching Mimi interact with the boys.  We even got a few good snapshots.  There was a moment where I went into the kitchen and Jakob was staring up at Mimi as she talked about some unknown topic and it just took my breath away to watch them together.  The boys are so lucky to get to know a great grandparent.  That moment alone made the difficulty of the trip worth it.  We left Great Grandma Mimi's around 6:30 pm with the intention of heading back to Grandma and Grandpa Russell's for the night.  But our toddler boys had other intentions that they did not bother to share with Mommy and Momma before we started on our journey to Pennsylvania.  We got the boys into their pajamas and instantly both boys entered major meltdown mode.  There was not a single thing we could do to calm them down.  And believe me we tried our hardest.  Kara and I were also exhausted.  It had been a physically draining day on us.  And we both knew that the comfort of our home was only 4 hours away.  And we both knew that the boys would sleep with zero problems if we could only get them home.  And we both knew that neither boy would sleep at Grandma and Grandpa Russell's house.  So we made the decision to head home.  It broke Kara's heart.  And as a result the tears started to flow.  Have I mentioned that I rarely see Kara cry?  It was a rough moment.  I often forget how far away Kara is from her family.  I take it for granted to have my parent's literally around the corner from us.  So the last thing Kara wanted to do was leave after only a few hours.  But she made the ultimate sacrifice for her little boys and we loaded up the car.  The boys did a fairly decent job on the way home.  We did have a major fail.  I did not notice until we got home that Jakob was absolutely soaked from head to toe.  The lid to his sippy cup must not have been on all the way and so he had dumped his entire sippy cup all over himself at the beginning of the 4 hour trip home.  Oops!!  No wonder he kept waking up during the drive home.  Kara and I keep each other awake during the trip home and thanks to a lot of caffeine we made the trip with no problems.  We pulled into the driveway a bit after midnight.  We decided to do our normal bedtime routine to ensure that the boys would fall asleep with no problem.  So my other memory of this day ... watching the boys have a blast in the bath tub at 12:30 am.  It was great!

So  ... "We did try!"

We also got an invite from some new friends to try out a "Mommy and Me" style music class.  It was free.  So Jakob and I decided to give it a whirl.  Kara and I are actively trying to find some one-on-one activities to do with the boys.  And we thought this would be a great fit for Jakob.  He is a very social little boy and we thought he would love to sing songs and dance with other little kids.

The good news?  Jakob and I didn't officially get kicked out of the class.

The bad news?  The only reason we didn't get kicked out was because we walked ran out before the class ended.

Did I mention it was only a 30 minute class?

I think it was a great program.   And I am sure it would be wonderful for many kids.  But just not my kid!  It was an extremely structured class.  I was not expecting that at all.  And my 15 month old toddler does not understand a structured environment.  We let Jakob and Alex learn by exploring everything that is around them.  We only guide them in terms of safety issues.  So when we tried to do this class Jakob entered full meltdown mode in about 20 seconds.

Problem #1: There were toys all around the room that Jakob was not allowed to touch.  Have you ever told a 15 month old to not touch the toys?  The bright and colorful toys?

Problem #2: The instructor wanted us to walk around in a circle.  Why was my kid the only one who wanted to basically do a sprint across the room?  And I would finally get Jakob to walk in a circle and the instructor would tell us to turn around and go in the other direction. NO!!!

Problem #3: The instructor would give Jakob a toy to use for an activity but the activity would only last for 2 minutes and then Jakob would be expected to give the toy back.  WHAT?  I kept silently begging for the instructor to just forget that we had the toy.

Problem #4:  And then the worst part came when the instructor pulled out a xylophone for an activity.  We have a xylophone at home for Jakob and Alex.  And they absolutely love the toy.  So immediately Jakob did a made dash for the xylophone and while I was holding on to the back of his t-shirt with all my might all I kept hearing from the instructor was, "Jakob we need to wait our turn."  And all the while I was thinking to myself, "I've failed as a parent."  I have no idea how to teach my 15 month old to wait his turn without causing a meltdown.  When Jakob and Alex fight over a toy we use the power of distraction to solve the problem.  I guess that's not the answer.  So basically the xylophone was the final straw.  And because the instructor was giving us the evil eye I made the decision that our Mommy and Me days were officially over!!  I was sweating up a storm.  And I basically made a made sprint to the car.

I'm also fairly certain that I scared away our new friends!

Did I mention that I was a safety town dropout when I was a kid?  I guess Jakob is following in my footsteps.

So ... "We did try!"

And in other news ...

* Jakob learned how to climb the stairs in Pennsylvania.  He now climbs the stairs at home with zero problems.
* I swear that Alex said "Dog" the other day.  But we haven't heard it again.
* And tonight I officially gave the boys a bath together for the first time ... ALONE!!

Mary