Easter Escapades
This past Easter Sunday I was reminded of a less than stellar parenting moment from 2008 when we visited my brother's family in Chicago. With three small children under the age of four, we embarked on another unforgettable Forced Family Fun (#FFF) vacations. I'm quite confident that following our Easter escapades, my brother and his wife had second thoughts about expanding their family of three!
Living in Colorado at the time, it was an adventure to fly to Chicago, where we resided during the 'honeymoon' phase of our marriage, post-college and pre-kids. Enjoying museums through the eyes of children was a surreal experience as we had finally arrived mature, responsible adults, rather than audacious adolescents of a decade prior. Feeling nervous as we entered my brother's pristine Chicago bungalow, with cream colored oversized chairs and neutral area rug, I somehow knew it was only a matter of hours before my children would leave a ruinous thoroughfare of destruction, corrupting their one-year-old cousin in the process.
Traveling with three young children was no small feat, given our third child's colicky behavior. Eleven-months-old at the time, our son had only stopped screaming about a month prior. He fussed and cried at his older siblings who were always in his grill, touching him, holding him, loving him, and telling him what to do. Folks would comment they had never heard a scream like it, while others felt sorry for me managing two toddlers and a baby. Nevertheless, fears of parental judging left me insecure when he wailed. You'd think that would've been a wake-up call to stop at three children! Nope, we persevered, having four children before I waved the white flag.
Marveling at the Easter eggs dyed, museums visited and playtime negotiated among cousins learning to share, we had survived the long-weekend without incident, or so I thought. As mature adults do, we set off to worship, dressed in our Easter best, astonishingly on-time! I knew my mom would be proud of us, managing the religious aspects and not just the Easter Bunny. Running into the church in the nick of time, we were lucky to find a vacant pew as the Easter service began. Smiling with pride as we turned to each other in admiration, my brother silently mouthed, "Where's the baby?" Panic ensued as we looked around everywhere for his infant car seat, forgetting the hymnal verse. Nowhere to be found, we could only assume we left him in the car on the streets of Chicago, several blocks away! My husband sprinted off in his suit reserved for religious holidays, weddings and funerals. Tears began to well up inside me as I assured my other two children we'd find the baby. Sure I'd left my purse in the grocery cart before, but who in their right mind forgets their child? This debacle had the makings of another 'Home Alone' movie!
Thankfully, the baby was found peacefully sleeping in the car and stayed that way throughout the service; an Easter miracle! This was literally the first time he had been tranquil in the presence of others; unnoticed for the first time in nearly a year. In hindsight, who could blame us for a moment's rest? We counted our blessings nonetheless.
We managed to laugh about the abandoned baby adventure the rest of our brief Chicago sojourn until my daughter threw up all over their pastel braided rug carpet in the nursery. I blame the unfettered access to Easter candy, or perhaps we left a nasty stomach bug in our wake. Nevertheless, I promptly paid for rug dry-cleaning on our way out of town. Surely having overstayed our welcome by this point, we counted our children carefully before we left on our next road trip adventure to bless my husband's family in Iowa with our presence!
Traveling with three young children was no small feat, given our third child's colicky behavior. Eleven-months-old at the time, our son had only stopped screaming about a month prior. He fussed and cried at his older siblings who were always in his grill, touching him, holding him, loving him, and telling him what to do. Folks would comment they had never heard a scream like it, while others felt sorry for me managing two toddlers and a baby. Nevertheless, fears of parental judging left me insecure when he wailed. You'd think that would've been a wake-up call to stop at three children! Nope, we persevered, having four children before I waved the white flag.
Marveling at the Easter eggs dyed, museums visited and playtime negotiated among cousins learning to share, we had survived the long-weekend without incident, or so I thought. As mature adults do, we set off to worship, dressed in our Easter best, astonishingly on-time! I knew my mom would be proud of us, managing the religious aspects and not just the Easter Bunny. Running into the church in the nick of time, we were lucky to find a vacant pew as the Easter service began. Smiling with pride as we turned to each other in admiration, my brother silently mouthed, "Where's the baby?" Panic ensued as we looked around everywhere for his infant car seat, forgetting the hymnal verse. Nowhere to be found, we could only assume we left him in the car on the streets of Chicago, several blocks away! My husband sprinted off in his suit reserved for religious holidays, weddings and funerals. Tears began to well up inside me as I assured my other two children we'd find the baby. Sure I'd left my purse in the grocery cart before, but who in their right mind forgets their child? This debacle had the makings of another 'Home Alone' movie!Thankfully, the baby was found peacefully sleeping in the car and stayed that way throughout the service; an Easter miracle! This was literally the first time he had been tranquil in the presence of others; unnoticed for the first time in nearly a year. In hindsight, who could blame us for a moment's rest? We counted our blessings nonetheless.
We managed to laugh about the abandoned baby adventure the rest of our brief Chicago sojourn until my daughter threw up all over their pastel braided rug carpet in the nursery. I blame the unfettered access to Easter candy, or perhaps we left a nasty stomach bug in our wake. Nevertheless, I promptly paid for rug dry-cleaning on our way out of town. Surely having overstayed our welcome by this point, we counted our children carefully before we left on our next road trip adventure to bless my husband's family in Iowa with our presence!
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| The #FFF continues with four children! |
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