I think it might be from all the time I've spent in Scotland, but rainy days make me want to leave the house. Yesterday was the rainiest day ever in New York (or since records began in 1945 anyway). It poured absolute buckets nonstop. I got agita just thinking about being cooped up with the kids and the sitter all day, convinced that Roan would start bouncing off the walls in a matter of minutes without a morning walk.
I put on my Wellies and Roan and I trekked out to Target to get him some new shoes, about a 20 minute walk. Trying to maneuver a crappy stroller with the grace of a supermarket shopping cart while battling an umbrella in a gale was pretty comical, but we made it there. Let me tell those of you who live in the the suburbs that your version of Target (or Ikea, Home Depot etc), which works perfectly fine amid a strip mall off the highway, is total chaos and insanity in the center of Brooklyn (there are 2.5 million people in Brooklyn and 3 Targets). To my dismay when we arrived the entire second floor was closed off for undisclosed reasons, so a group of about 30 customers were corralled at the base of the escalators yelling to the staff on the second floor to request various items for purchase. Ugh. Luckily the kids shoes were on the first floor so Roan did a little catwalking until we found some comfy new kicks.
I didn't think that a trip to Target counted as a real outing, but the rain kept coming down in sheets. What to do ? Where to go? I found the Brooklyn Children's Museum online. Genius! And I am sure that the other 2.5 million people in Brooklyn aren't thinking the exact same thing!! Our sitter Kia looked a little hesitant, and then a lot hesitant when I proposed that we take the subway. I have been feeling increasingly tempted to push my comfort zone with the kids. In the past 14 months we have taken nesting to the point of hibernation and I am sick of it. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to leave and requires major amounts of gear and organization but I figure the more we do it the easier it will get. And actually, we did great. From the initial museum suggestion until arrival at the museum (after some serious heavy lifting of the double stroller up and down 4 flights of subway stairs) was about an hour. Not bad! We got there and it looked like the first day of school. A line out the door of kids and bedraggled parents. Roan was already getting bored. Shit!! This was a big mistake. We were funneled like so many cattle through a maze of stroller lined hallways and squeezed ourselves into the toddler section. I wore Lula facing out and she was actually remarkably fine with it all. Roan freaked and wanted out out out.
We stayed and Roan gradually relaxed and started getting interested in things. True to his form he took the keenest interest in everything that was not meant to be a part of the exhibits - the locks on the cabinets, the swinging doors, the slanted hallways. Sam joined us for the last hour there and we checked out the nature exhibits and said hello to the turtles and the fish.
Today, thankfully the rain held off but the puddles persisted, so Roan broke in his new shoes at the playground.
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