Under No Circumstances

My family and I returned home today, a day early, from our family vacation in northern Minnesota. Our four-year-old son fell ill with the stomach flu. He was ill all day yesterday and opened our morning today with an episode of vomiting in the kitchen of our lake cabin. Needless to say, we came home and have stayed in all day, playing, sleeping, "rocking out" (Guitar Hero), etc. An interesting story stemming from my son's sickness is one that involves a boat and a reservation. One of the things I most wanted to do during our vacation is take our son on a boat cruise. I thought he would get a kick out of it. I made a reservation on Tuesday afternoon and was told that I would not receive a refund under any circumstances if we were unable to make the trip. Being an optimist, for once in my life, I made the reservation thinking that all would be well within the next twenty-four hours. The next morning, Hunter awoke proclaiming an "icky" stomach and began a day of throwing up. I was amazed by how strong he was. He was such a good patient. He even managed to run around laughing with his cousin between episodes of sickness. Kids are so resilient. A couple things I have learned as a result of our first family vacation. When you have children, everything needs to be spur of the moment. Advance planning will only prompt the forces of nature to turn on you :) ! Also, every time my son has fallen ill, he has recently consumed chocolate milk at a restaurant. So, no more chocolate milk for Hunter!

Another funny story from our vacation involves, again, dinner. My sister's family and our family thought we had selected the perfect restaurant for the evening. According to a travel booklet, the restaurant had the best outdoor seating in Duluth and featured a children's menu, which meant the restaurant would be family friendly. Not so. When we arrived we realized it was pretty much just a bar that served food on the side. Not really knowing the area, we ventured to another restaurant nearby. When we walked in, we knew we had made a terrible mistake but there really was no turning back. My husband would have had a meltdown. The restaurant was quite nice and the hostess was quite irritated at the sight of our small children. Of course, my younger son, who is always quite quiet and agreeable, decided this would be the night he started to talking (and loud). He yelled throughout our dinner, "ba ba ba ba." The groups around us, as well as the waitstaff, watched us throughout our meal. I waited to eat until my husband finished. My brother-in-law ate quickly and took my older son and his son out of the restaurant. We basically ate everything within twenty minutes and got the heck out. I left feeling partly embarrassed and also partly irritated by the fact that our society basically declares children a nuisance when it comes to eating out. Hey, parents are people too. Kids can be loud but they're also 100% genuine and we can actually learn a lot about loving life from them. I don't know. I guess the next time I go out without children, I'll keep my irritation in check when I see someone out with their kids. They want to eat and enjoy love a bit too.