I had been sick for a couple of weeks. It was intermittent and since I had a
physical exam scheduled for the end of this month, I ignored my discomfort. When I got chills and
fatigue I surrendered and went to
the doctor. Until the antibiotics
kicked in I was bedridden for a few days and could not do much of anything
except read and sleep.
This is a nice thing about being retired. When one gets sick one can actually go to bed
and sleep no matter what time of day it is, and for as many days as it takes to
get better. No guilt, no
concern; it is downright sinful.
As always, it felt so good to be bad.
After a few days of antibiotics and inactivity I felt well enough to venture
out and visit The Magic Kingdom with my daughter and both grandkids. We were all excited and happy to
go. It is purportedly
the place where dreams come true – and for crying out loud, it is The Happiest
Place on Earth. Can’t beat that! I probably have a few dreams left.
Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for us. She is such a pain in the neck. I thought she had forgotten about me
after she gobsmacked me with anxiety while keeping me stuck in a travel trailer for three months. No such luck.
FYI, The Magic Kingdom is my least favorite Disney
park. It is every child’s
favorite. It is also the
only Disney park that does not sell beer. Consequently, the place is packed with hysterically giddy children and frazzled
parents who must experience the park and their over-stimulated children sober.
We parked in the Heroes parking area (Simba lot, row 21) and
from there took the tram train to the boat. Eventually the boat filled up with enough people and departed
for the Magic Kingdom. M and
I have done this before with two year-old N and he likes the tram ride and
the boat. This time,
however, he was all hopped up on testosterone and clearly suffering from Baby
Attitudinal Disorder (BAD). Remember,
I never had a son. I was one of
your original radical feminists in the late 60’s/early 70’s. Back then I was pretty sure there was
no difference between boys and girls besides the obvious biological thing. I was anti-nature and pro-nurture. Consequently, this boy energy thing
never fails to catch me off guard.
How could I have been so wrong?
N did fairly well on the tram, although he would not sit still and
I had to wrestle him down to keep him from flying out of the moving tram. His mother had the folded up monster
stroller between her and the rest of us at the opposite end of the long
seat. She is so clever, that
one. When we arrived at the boat I found his favorite place so that he could watch the water and the other
boats. No, that was not good
enough. He insisted on walking around
the boat to investigate. It is a
double decker boat and we walked up the stairs. Unfortunately, when we got upstairs
they cordoned off the steps and started the boat moving. That meant we (N, his 10 year old
sister E, and I) were stuck upstairs. Mommie was downstairs with the monster stroller. The boy was miserable. I tried to distract him but he
was screaming for his Mom. He got
very angry with me and said “Gwamma, you go! Get up and let Mommie sit down.” I
calmly explained that the captain makes the rules on the boat and he said we
had to stay upstairs until the boat stopped. He did not seem to understand English. He wanted his Mom. Like Woody Allen once famously said, “The heart wants
what the heart wants.” The tween granddaughter was sitting not far from us with her head turned
as far in the opposite direction as it would go. She did not have much to say; in fact when I spoke to her
she seemed not to hear me at all, as if she was not with us. Odd.
When we got there, he insisted on walking. Too bad,
because when we put him into the stroller he is delightfully docile and
cooperative. On his feet he runs away.
Still, one must save these
extraordinary efforts for when they are most needed. The time would come.
E and I went on the Haunted Mansion ride while M and N went
on the Dumbo ride. Great
fun, good start to the day. E was
so happy to show me the Haunted Mansion sights. It was great to be alone with her for a few minutes. I love that girl. We all met up afterwards at the baseball
themed Casey’s Corner for hot dogs and fries. There was actually a vacant table inside the air-conditioned
restaurant so we grabbed it. Good
thing, because almost immediately the heavens opened and the rains fell down. Luckily there is a large shopping area
attached to the hot dog stand, so after we ate we were able to wander in and shop
while it rained. It rained hard for an
hour. Try keeping a toddler
politely occupied in a store for that long. He runs; he does not walk. He has to touch everything, and he has a penchant for
jewelry racks. Specifically, he likes to
put necklaces on with great force.
There were toys, and that kept him busy for a while. Of course they were all in boxes
and we would not let him open them so that frustrated him a bit. There was, however, an open bin filled
with long plastic swords… The
sword was retractable and opened in 5 different layers, which was dangerous on
so many levels. Thank you
Disney. He was entranced. Then he wanted to play hide and seek
inside the store. Or maybe he just
wanted me to chase him. Hard to
tell.
My sweet tween granddaughter had money burning a hole in her
pocket and wanted me to shop with her.
I tried, I really did; however, I kept catching sight of N as a flash of
light running down the aisles and I simply had to grab his chubby little self
to keep bad things from happening.
His mother was doing the same, but he is a fast little stinker. It takes a village and all
that. It might require the
infantry with this kid.
Finally we could take it no longer. It was still raining but it was
winding down. We opened our
umbrellas, harnessed the boy into the stroller and went on our merry way,
nerves shot and minds muddled. Oh, and I bought one of those swords. Seriously, I did. It made him SO happy, and it gave him something to do while we walked
around. Of course he kept
leaning over the stroller dragging the sword underneath which drove his poor
mother crazy, or retracting and opening it quickly so that bystanders were
endangered, but what the hell – he was happy and occupied. Trust me when I say that was all
I cared about at that point in time.
M, E, and I were miserable.
I was a little nervous that his father was not going to be happy with me
when N brought the sword into their house, but it was only $10 and he was
happy. I am pretty sure there is
no other toy at Magic Kingdom that only costs $10. Someone had to be happy in the Happiest Place on Earth. Let it be the boy.
We had fast passes for a few more rides, so we found our way
to The Little Mermaid ride. We parked the stroller and let him out in order to get on the ride. Big mistake. He immediately made a break for it and I had to chase him
into the Peter Pan ride across the way to catch and carry him back to the
Little Mermaid. I am so thankful for
fast passes, otherwise we would have had to wait in line with him for 10-30
minutes. Can you imagine? With a fast pass you can
pretty much walk right in. He
loved the Little Mermaid ride from the moment the restraining bar came down and
hemmed him in. When the ride ended
we were going to walk to the final ride for which we had fast passes, Winnie
the Pooh. But it started raining
again and he was kicking and screaming as M put him in the stroller. She suddenly announced we were going
home. I concurred with great feeling.
E was understandably pissed.
We were able to keep N in the stroller for the ride on the
boat to the tram. He was
great and played with his sword. E
was not talking. M was only
communicating with her iPhone. I was grateful for the quiet moments and the sound of water slapping
against the boat. Or maybe it was the sword hitting the stroller wheels?
Unfortunately when we got off the boat we still had to get
on the tram train to take us to the parking area. Getting on the tram meant we had to take N out of the
stroller, fold up the monster stroller and lug everything onto the long seat
while convincing N to sit still until the tram started moving. Horrors!
N wiggled, squirmed, and yelled during the whole tram
ride. I was terrified he would
fall out, even with me at the end of the row. Finally we arrived at Heroes Parking, Simba lot, aisle 21. The train stopped and we all lumbered
off the tram. M lugged the monster
stroller off and struggled to open it quickly in the middle of the
street. It was not easy. She might have been swearing at that point. N refused to get off the tram. I had to grab him and carry
him off. As I set him down he crumbled
into a heap of sobbing baby flesh in the middle of the street. He refused to stand up. He weighs a ton. I picked him up and lugged him across
the street to the waiting stroller.
I may or may not have been dodging oncoming cars. I felt my back go out. I was on my last nerve. I deposited him into the stroller. N and E were not speaking and their
eyes were glazed. They walked fast
with the boy in the stroller to the other end of the lot where the car was parked. I could not keep up and decided
not to try because, well, I was afraid I hurt my back lugging the boy across
the street. Plus, if you remember from the beginning of this post I had been sick.
When we got to the car M was struggling to get N out,
harness him into his car seat, fold down the stroller, lug the heavy-ass diaper
bag into the car, get him water, treats, etc. I wandered back in her general vicinity to help. She looked a little scary. She said in a very controlled voice, “Mom, just go sit in the car.” I did.
N fell asleep in his car seat. No one else spoke. Well at one point I jokingly said to E, “Next time you find
out we went to Magic Kingdom while you were in school you won’t be jealous,
instead you will feel sorry for us.” She did not laugh, reply, or even look in my general direction. She was steaming mad. I felt so sorry for her. It is not easy having a two
year-old brother. I said “I am
sorry it wasn’t fun for you.” She
replied “It would have been more fun going to school.” Ouch. I will make it up to her, never fear.
N woke up just before we got home. He was happy after his little catnap.
He was sweet and funny.
I remembered why I love him so much. It had rained hard and there was water running
down the gutters on the side of the street outside his house. He and I like to go down and
splash in the water barefoot after a heavy rain. We
took off our shoes and splashed around.
It was lovely until he made a break for it and starting running down the
street. I managed to catch him and
carry him home just as M came outside to see what was up. Then I went home and took a three-hour
nap. True story.
