The kids are finishing up a week's worth of the "no school, sleep in (which only happens for ONE person in the family, lucky you, Perez), play legos and do fun activities that mom and dad plan" type of routine. On Tuesday, a friend invited us to join herself and her two kids for Free Museum Tuesday in Balboa Park. (and...thank you so much, Jenny for the invite...please don't take any offense for the rest of this post...you and your family are much loved by us). If you're not from around here, sorry, you don't know what I'm talking about AND you don't get in for free! Every Tuesday in Balboa Park, San Diego County residents get to museum hop certain museums for free. It is a great time to look at art and spend time in some green space. Perfect Tuesday afternoon activity, in my opinion. It turns out, that particular Tuesday my children were completely wired. They are normally wild, but this was over the top. I couldn't get them to calm down with threats OR bribery. So, of course, the first museum we go to is the Japanese Friendship Garden. If any of you are from around here or know anything about Japanese gardens, for that matter, you realize that hyper children and peaceful zen like surroundings do not mix well. I gave them a quick pep talk to minimize the disruptiveness, but to no avail. They blew through the gate full steam ahead, playing tag on the narrow walkway, trampling over carefully placed moss and small greenery and petting the koi. Yes, I said, petting. We all know koi are expensive fish and we also know that expensive fishes scales and childrens' hands should not ever meet. Again, if you are from around here, you may also know that due to a late night flash mob water gun fight, Balboa Park has already suffered the loss of many of these beautiful fish. I didn't want to be responsible for another one. After another pep talk, we entered an indoor area with beautiful kimonos (thankfully behind glass) and a rickshaw, unfortunately NOT behind glass. It seems that signs reading "Please Do Not Touch" do not scare off hyper, disobedient children when they are obviously in the mood to touch. After, yet again, another pep talk, we entered one of those areas where people can sit indoors on benches and watch, through floor to ceiling glass windows, as people move gravel around with rakes. The benches are carefully placed about 5 feet from the windows so every one can watch in peace. My kids walked directly up to the windows, completely missing the benches all together, and proceeded to wipe their sweaty hands up and down the windows being sure not to miss any areas. They were even thoughtful enough to leave kiss marks on the glass for the next watchful participant. This may have been the last straw, but you don't know my kids well enough. On the way out, one of them somehow managed to dislodge the leather strap binding on a carefully placed bamboo water trough fountain, knocking it just enough so that the narrow trickle of water no longer fell gracefully into the gravel bed below, but onto the rock ledge nearby, creating another, but entirely unwanted, waterfall.
You think I'm exaggerating for the sake of the blog. I'm not. We left at this point. Feel free to comment on my parenting and how I should have left sooner or spoken more sternly or what have you. The truth is, all you parents know that sometimes your kids get the best of you. Sometimes, they are completely in control and you are completely out of control trying to get control.
The next museum...(drum roll please)? The San Diego museum of Art. One of the most traditional museums in the park. Constructed with ornate architecture and filled with age old paintings of people and landscapes of times past. The type of museum that requires you to check your cameras so that you can't photograph anything within the walls. You know what's coming right? You got it! My children were angels! If you call laughing uncontrollably at the strangely shaped breasts of a young maiden in oil, or attempting to pick the thick paint off an ornate rendering of a lively river landscape angelic. Seriously. It was bad. It had good moments, but definitely ended badly. I lost Perez, but, of course, HE wasn't lost, he was "looking at art". I found him, then lost him again. Jenny and her family patiently waited downstairs while I did a quick loop of the upstairs only to have Maggie march down stairs, scowling, and completely ignoring my fervent requests for her to stick with me so I didn't loose both of them. We left at that point. After a very stern discussion and a few minutes glued to my side, Jenny and I decided, for the sake of my children, not hers, that maybe an area for the kids to play around outside would be best. My kids took off running. A few minutes later I found them standing next to a lady and a sign. The lady was placing a bird on Maggie's head and the sign read "Warning: children left unattended will be sold to the circus." Go figure. Sometimes I think that might actually be a better place for them!
From Balboa Park with frenzied love,
Ali
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