Spontaneity
Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 12:18PM I love spontaneity. The idea of jumping in the car and just going. An unplanned trip, to wherever the wind takes you. It's fun. It's exciting. It satisfies my need for adventure. But sometimes I let my logical (pessimistic? lazy?) mind be the wet blanket to my fun. I allow thoughts like "It's too hard to pack up the baby" or "That would be easier to do with two parents, so let's wait" put a damper my adventures. I've let the fact that being spontaneous with a baby takes a little more work, and a little more time, become a challenge an excuse.
Well, no more. As I said, it's time to stop wanting to be [fill in the blank] and starting to be [spontaneous]. Or in this case, return to being [spontaneous].
I just googled 'spontaneity' to check the spelling and the first result is the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Under "Examples of SPONTANEITY" is says "<the couple sacrificed some of the spontaneity in their lives when they had a baby>" Go see for yourself...I can't make this stuff up.
Well, this week provided the perfect opportunity for my beloved spontaneity to make it's grand entrance into 2012. My dear friend, Kala, and I had talked about getting together Friday afternoon and when Friday morning rolled around, we still didn't have any plans. That usually means we will push it off until next week and skip the hassle task of packing up bags with diapers & snacks, loading up the kids and trying to be somewhere at a specific time.
[Side note - Kala has a little girl just 5 weeks older than Kane and another little girl that's just 4 months old, so she's got twice as many kids as I do. Plus, she makes homemade bows for little girls and is a great crocheter. She made Kane's hat in these pics as well as his Halloween hat.]
But thankfully, fate had bigger plans for us this Friday. It was sunny and 72 degrees with a nice breeze. In January. We couldn't pass up such a beautiful day. So when she mentioned the Dallas Zoo, I let my spontaneous desires take over and said "yes!" Kane and I rushed home from running errands so Kane could nap while I showered (yes, I sometimes run errands before I've had a shower. I'm sure you're shocked.) and I got us packed up. We needed diapers and snacks and sun block and a hat. Oh, and the water bottle. And we couldn't forget the wagon.
Of course Kane woke up just 45 minutes into his nap and I had to help him get back to sleep. While dripping wet because I had been in the shower. And he didn't want to get dressed so he fought it. And then he made a huge mess of his magnets so I would have to pick them up before we left (because if I didn't, we would have come home to 17 chewed up letters and dogs with "It wasn't me!" looks in their eyes). And while I was packing up the wagon, he tried to eat some wood glue in the garage.
Seriously child, how many hurdles do you want me to jump to take you someplace FUN? But a mother with a mission (and a friend already on her way to Dallas) is an unstoppable force. So we did it. We got loaded and headed to the zoo. Twenty minutes late, but we went! And it was sooooo worth it.
We started at the Children's Zoo where you can let the goats babysit your kid while you have a cocktail. Ok, maybe not, but wouldn't that be awesome?!
Kala strapped a baby to her chest and held a toddler in her arms so they could see the monkeys.
I pulled these two in the wagon, up the hills and around the zoo. That's 50 pounds of toddler. But when went down the hills, I let the wagon pick up some speed and they squealed with joy. Literally. People were looking at us, a crazy mom and two toddlers in a wagon rather than the wild animals three feet away, because they were squealing so loudly. So it was worth the climb up those hills.
We rode the monorail and saw birds and waterfalls and mountain goats.
Can you hear this little girl saying "Ooooohhh"?
We sat on benches, took breaks and had snacks.
And we wrapped up our visit with the giraffes. Kane loves babies and was saying "Hi baby, hi baby!" so enthusiastically, the giraffe wanted to see what was going on.
We left as the zoo closed and our bodies cast long shadows in the parking lot.
But it had been a beautiful day and I was happy as I found my way home via the back roads of Oak Cliff. There was an accident on I35, but taking the long way home didn't bother me a bit. I was content. I had jumped the hurdles, the ones in my head and the ones on my living room floor, and had followed my desire for adventure. We had a wonderful time at the zoo and Kane got to experience something new. As did I, so it was all worth it. As it usually is. I have to remember that the next time I try to be by own obstacle.
