Always good intentions

So last week I had this brilliant “aren’t I a great mom” idea. I scoured the internet (okay it was just one site and I knew the url before I even opened IE) and found a butterfly exhibit to go to – kids are free and adult price was $3. I packed up the sippy cups, Ritz Bitz, animal crackers and the boys and off we went.

I’ll spare you the details of all the this-road-is-torn-up-from-construction-so-I-don’t-know –where-to-turn and oh-how-did-we-end-up-driving-through-the-massive-preparations-for-The-State-Fair-of-Texas. We never found the butterfly garden because apparently it’s the most obscure, unknown ‘attraction’ in Dallas. So I decided that since we ended up in front of the Museum of Science and whatever else I can’t remember, we’d do that. Now in addition to congratulating myself for packing up the kids to do something other than walk the malls and visit play areas, I could praise my let’s-make-the-best-of-it-kids-we-won’t-let-a-little-change-of-plans-hijack-our-wonderful-horizon-expanding-adventure.

In a nutshell… maybe visiting a museum with a 1 and just 2 year old isn’t the best way to spend 30 minutes and $8.50. Kyle, my little routine-loving 2-year-old decided immediately that everything about the place didn’t suit his fancy. The way he shook his head and said “No no no” with a great deal of concern on his face is very convincing – it seemed that he was feeling anxious. Well, what mom wants to subject their kid to massive anxiety, all for the purpose of viewing a gigantic replica of a T-rex or seeing a lightning exhibit? So, I let him play me like a fiddle and we scurried through the museum like our stroller was on fire.

I had assumed that the kids’ area with the giant sandbox and all the toddler climbing stuff would be there. So when I decided that we’d go to the museum I knew that those would be a hit. Well neither were there. They did have the water table but there were crappy toys and Grant immediately picked up a cup and poured water on his head.

The whole museum was a mess and only about 50% of it was open – the rest was ‘undergoing construction’ or ‘we’re preparing new exhibits for you’. People, if you want to do anything for me, you would only charge me $3 to take a quick walk through this disappointment. So you’re thinking that I must have gone to the front counter and complained and asked for my money back, right? Nope, I just took a walk around the pond behind the museum then sulked back to the van.

But good news on the stroll around the pond! The boys got to see the big giant paddle-boat ducks getting ready for the fair, and I saw something I had never seen before. A woman in a very low-cut, skin-tight shirt had a ‘necklace’ tattoed around her neck and at the end of said necklace, on her very open-to-the-public breastage area, was tattoed in cursive some lucky fella’s name. All this time I’ve been kidding myself that my engagement ring and wedding band were rock solid symbols of Dave’s and my commitment to each other. Miss Tattoo Necklace has certainly given me a lot to think about.

So all-in-all not a great adventure, but I still congratulated myself for my get-the-boys-out-and-expand-their-horizons journey. Of course the congratulations ended when we got home and Kyle fell and got a bloody nose and fat lip getting out of the minivan, but that’s a story for another time (never).