One of the things I love about travelling with my boys, is that we end up chatting to people everywhere we go. We'll be at the supermarket or in a hotel lobby and the boys smile and wave, and before you know it we're talking like old friends with Bill and Jean, an older couple from Chicago who have two grown up children and came to Hot Springs to enjoy the baths and see the Bill Clinton library. I enjoy these conversations hugely, we have met some amazing people who have great stories, even greater accents, and buckets of American charm. And as I read earlier today in this cool quote from Bill Nye the Science Guy: "Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't".
But there's one piece of advice that I am routinely given when these folks see us with two young children, and that is this: Enjoy every minute.
Now then. I enjoy every day with my boys. I really enjoy the special moments. I sometimes even manage to enjoy difficult moments. But E.V.E.R.Y minute? Hmmmm. What about those (long) minutes when Mr 1 is teething and frustrated and Mr Almost 3 is expressing his turmoil about wanting to play inside and outside AT THE SAME TIME. (Choosing is hard, right?). What about when they bump heads and both start crying, or they both want the same toy, or same book, or the exact same stone on an ENTIRE BEACH of stones? What about the tantrums? What about the broken sleep, followed by the tantrums? What about the nappies, the spew the poo, the smelly shoes?
But there's one piece of advice that I am routinely given when these folks see us with two young children, and that is this: Enjoy every minute.
Now then. I enjoy every day with my boys. I really enjoy the special moments. I sometimes even manage to enjoy difficult moments. But E.V.E.R.Y minute? Hmmmm. What about those (long) minutes when Mr 1 is teething and frustrated and Mr Almost 3 is expressing his turmoil about wanting to play inside and outside AT THE SAME TIME. (Choosing is hard, right?). What about when they bump heads and both start crying, or they both want the same toy, or same book, or the exact same stone on an ENTIRE BEACH of stones? What about the tantrums? What about the broken sleep, followed by the tantrums? What about the nappies, the spew the poo, the smelly shoes?
Today felt like a hard day. We are all kinda tired, and the whole fam has a bit of hotel fatigue. The tension was building up a bit and then there were milk spills on top of a non eating lunch and everything was a bit arrghhhhh!
But now it's the end of the day, the boys are in bed, and we are sitting here enjoying a cold beer (admittedly we are sitting in the dark - let's not wake the mini kaiju, right..?), and I am reflecting on the fact that today was actually a pretty awesome day. We went to the Amarillo 'Discovery Center' this morning which was unexpectedly good. There were a series of really cool hands-on experiments that should be in every school science lab - you could fire balls into a 'black hole', walk through a maze of ribbons, or run around on a shadow stage with freaky coloured lights. And this evening we went to the Great Texan Steak Ranch, famous for its 72 oz steak challenge (I know, gross huh?!), although I found 12oz suited me just fine.
Despite my earlier irritability tonight I feel really lucky to be seeing these places. I've been to tons of 'Texan' style steak houses but this is the first one that is actually in Texas. Travelling is a massive privilege, these All-American experiences are pretty special, and I think it's really cool to be doing this when our little ones are still 'forming neurons' to quote a good friend of mine.
So, enjoy every minute? Nah, I don't think I'm going to try to enjoy every minute, whether refering to parenting, or travelling. After all, some minutes are dumb and stinky. But I am going to keep loving the good times, treasuring the wonderful people my life, and definitely definitely, appreciating each day.
But now it's the end of the day, the boys are in bed, and we are sitting here enjoying a cold beer (admittedly we are sitting in the dark - let's not wake the mini kaiju, right..?), and I am reflecting on the fact that today was actually a pretty awesome day. We went to the Amarillo 'Discovery Center' this morning which was unexpectedly good. There were a series of really cool hands-on experiments that should be in every school science lab - you could fire balls into a 'black hole', walk through a maze of ribbons, or run around on a shadow stage with freaky coloured lights. And this evening we went to the Great Texan Steak Ranch, famous for its 72 oz steak challenge (I know, gross huh?!), although I found 12oz suited me just fine.
Despite my earlier irritability tonight I feel really lucky to be seeing these places. I've been to tons of 'Texan' style steak houses but this is the first one that is actually in Texas. Travelling is a massive privilege, these All-American experiences are pretty special, and I think it's really cool to be doing this when our little ones are still 'forming neurons' to quote a good friend of mine.
So, enjoy every minute? Nah, I don't think I'm going to try to enjoy every minute, whether refering to parenting, or travelling. After all, some minutes are dumb and stinky. But I am going to keep loving the good times, treasuring the wonderful people my life, and definitely definitely, appreciating each day.
