One of the lessons which my husband and I have had learn, or attempt to learn, over and over again is that when you have four small children you just can’t do everything. Seems obvious - but I don’t think we are the only ones who have trouble with this. Yesterday we had the unexpected pleasure of getting to go to Washington, DC with my best friend and her family. She and her Marine husband have 2 boys the same ages as our oldest two - 6 and 4 - so that gave us a grand total of six little boys orbiting around us as we boarded the Metro. This was the first time I have been back to DC since we were newlyweds stationed at Quantico. Seeing the sights with a brood is vastly different. I was actually getting dizzy in the first half hour just trying to keep an eye on everybody. Our destination was typical: the Smithsoninan Air and Space Museum. The boys were excited, thrilled, exhilarated - and that was just the ride in from Springfield on the Metro train! Once we got to the Museum, it was lunch time and we ate at the on-site McDonald’s. I joked that once we finished bathroom visits and eating and more bathroom visits it would be time to go home. And honestly, if we had the kids would have been perfectly happy. Children, on some occasions at least, are really very easy to satisfy. After lunch my four year old had already had enough, he refused to walk and had to be carried on Daddy’s shoulders. After a not-so-fun struggle with him, we swapped him for the baby in the stroller and he went to sleep, as did the two year old. Then the baby fell asleep in my friend’s arms. So fully 75% of my children slept through the musuem, waking up just in time to squall in the gift shop.
After the museum, I really wanted to jet over to the White House just to stand outside, show it to my oldest son, and say a prayer of Thankgiving for our recent election… But this was where that much needed lesson finally kicked in. I had to say NO, it’s time to go home. Strange as it felt to pack it in after only one attraction - more would not have been good for my kids. And if it’s not good for them, it’s really not good for me. I love to go and go and go, but right now my kids are too small and funny, but they don’t get much out of museums anyway. (except the oldest, who loved it!) I’ve also come to realize that it is best to stick to free attractions so you can walk away when the kids are done without feeling like you’ve wasted your money.
Finally, I need to remember to be more child-like myself, finding the thrill and excitement in the journey and the food and the little happy moments - instead of dwelling on the bigger dreams of adventure that are currently out of my reach.