OK, so it’s not really a big city, but to our two toddlers it is a gigantic universe. It was the notion of taming this universe that led my husband and I to brave the city via public transportation with our two children in tow one Saturday morning. Our goal: to expose our children to, and gain some familiarity with, the city that we live in. Think of it as giving our children the very beginning lessons of “street smarts.”
We chose to live in the city for many reasons, but it is strange how little we have exposed our children to its heart. Of course, we are frequent visitors to area parks and other outdoor destinations, but our children have yet to truly explore downtown in all its splendor. And what better way to see the city than through public transportation?
We climbed on to the light rail with relative ease, and within minutes we were zipping toward downtown. My son and daughter stared out the windows in amazement - their facial expressions clearly saying “this is better than the movies!” Before long, we were stopped and asked to depart the light rail and instead jump on a bus to downtown. Apparently construction had impacted our route. Undaunted, off we went onto a crowded and somewhat unpleasant smelling bus. The bus trip was considerably less appealing, but our children continued to love every minute of it!
Eventually, my daughter’s patience ended and she began to request - actually yell - to get “down.” It was then that I learned a lesson (or as my friend might say, I encountered a “teaching moment.”) At 17 months, my daughter adores walking and exploring constantly, so sitting still on my lap is unappealing to say the least. I braced myself for the sneers from angry bus passengers that I envisioned I was about to receive and let my daughter have her mini-temper tantrum. To my surprise, it was incredibly short lived, and within minutes, she was back to gazing at the sights and sounds of the city. It turns out that we both learned something: I learned to go with the flow, and my daughter learned that adapting is part of life.
We arrived downtown, and we headed to the Art Museum for some family fun. We spent the next hour or so investigating the play areas of the museum and ended the day with a sack lunch. My children were fascinated, interested, and eager to discover. They were exhilarated and exhausted at the same time. It was the perfect day. In the end, they experienced the same joy that we feel when traipsing through our beloved city.
“That was pretty successful,” my husband whispers but beams as we gingerly walk down the stairs trying to avoid waking our two napping little ones. “It was,” I agreed. The best part was that our children didn’t seem intimidated or scared by the city. Rather, they seemed remarkably at ease. In fact, they seemed at home. I think that more than anything is our on-going parenting goal: to continually teach our children to trust themselves, their instincts and to walk comfortably through this world witnessing all that life has to offer.
Embrace Your MOMentum
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