So I drove up and down the closest non-valet aisles for five minutes until one finally opened up. (Seeing as we only had one stop, I opted to not bring the stroller with me, which is why I had to have a close spot.) Eli ran along side of me as I carried Maddux along the never-ending sidewalk leading to another sidewalk leading to the ramp leading to the entrance of the mall. Eli did great inside of the tea shop, putting his hands in his pockets instead of touching everything in sight. Maddux squirmed in my arms, but we all made it out in one piece. So six minutes after we walked into the mall, we were done. I thought it might be cruel to throw the kids right back in the car for another 30-minute drive home, so I asked them if they wanted to see some Christmas decorations. We walked to the center of the mall to see the larger-than-life stockings and Eli's attention was immediately drawn to the escalators. He didn't even have to ask.... I told him we could go down and then come up before we left. However, once we got to the bottom, there was a cool video game projected from the ceiling. It lit up the floor over top of a touch-screen-like jump pad. The kids ran around an 8x4 area, kicking pretend soccer balls or jumping on imaginary bubbles to make them pop. I told Eli and Maddux they could have ten minutes. (They were behaving so well and I thought that might be a nice reward for tagging along for Mommy's errand. Both kids had a blast. They jumped and ran with the other children, trying to figure out each game as it popped up. My favorite part came right at the beginning: Eli and Maddux stood just outside of the box, observing the current game. Once Eli grasped the concept, he started to step forward, but then stopped and looked back. He grabbed Maddux's hand and said, "C'mon Maddie....pway wiff me." He did this at least two more times before we left the game rectangle. I know I keep blogging about these fleeting moments of kindness between them, but I use this blog as a journal of Eli and Maddie's life, and I know there will be days in the future where I'll have to look back to remind myself that they got along so great at one point. So for now, life is good.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Good Times
This holiday season has found us without any crazy, last-minute shopping trips. As happy as that makes me, I still took the kids to the mall for a quick tea stop. I think the last time I was in a mall, I was pregnant with Eli. I am not typically a mall-dweller and the idea of going so close to December 25th makes my stomach hurt. But I wanted tea. Really really wanted tea. So we drove 30 minutes to the only store I know that sells my tea and searched for a parking spot. Of course, said tea shop is located on a mall 'end-cap', but all nearby parking is valet only. So I drove up and down the closest non-valet aisles for five minutes until one finally opened up. (Seeing as we only had one stop, I opted to not bring the stroller with me, which is why I had to have a close spot.) Eli ran along side of me as I carried Maddux along the never-ending sidewalk leading to another sidewalk leading to the ramp leading to the entrance of the mall. Eli did great inside of the tea shop, putting his hands in his pockets instead of touching everything in sight. Maddux squirmed in my arms, but we all made it out in one piece. So six minutes after we walked into the mall, we were done. I thought it might be cruel to throw the kids right back in the car for another 30-minute drive home, so I asked them if they wanted to see some Christmas decorations. We walked to the center of the mall to see the larger-than-life stockings and Eli's attention was immediately drawn to the escalators. He didn't even have to ask.... I told him we could go down and then come up before we left. However, once we got to the bottom, there was a cool video game projected from the ceiling. It lit up the floor over top of a touch-screen-like jump pad. The kids ran around an 8x4 area, kicking pretend soccer balls or jumping on imaginary bubbles to make them pop. I told Eli and Maddux they could have ten minutes. (They were behaving so well and I thought that might be a nice reward for tagging along for Mommy's errand. Both kids had a blast. They jumped and ran with the other children, trying to figure out each game as it popped up. My favorite part came right at the beginning: Eli and Maddux stood just outside of the box, observing the current game. Once Eli grasped the concept, he started to step forward, but then stopped and looked back. He grabbed Maddux's hand and said, "C'mon Maddie....pway wiff me." He did this at least two more times before we left the game rectangle. I know I keep blogging about these fleeting moments of kindness between them, but I use this blog as a journal of Eli and Maddie's life, and I know there will be days in the future where I'll have to look back to remind myself that they got along so great at one point. So for now, life is good.
So I drove up and down the closest non-valet aisles for five minutes until one finally opened up. (Seeing as we only had one stop, I opted to not bring the stroller with me, which is why I had to have a close spot.) Eli ran along side of me as I carried Maddux along the never-ending sidewalk leading to another sidewalk leading to the ramp leading to the entrance of the mall. Eli did great inside of the tea shop, putting his hands in his pockets instead of touching everything in sight. Maddux squirmed in my arms, but we all made it out in one piece. So six minutes after we walked into the mall, we were done. I thought it might be cruel to throw the kids right back in the car for another 30-minute drive home, so I asked them if they wanted to see some Christmas decorations. We walked to the center of the mall to see the larger-than-life stockings and Eli's attention was immediately drawn to the escalators. He didn't even have to ask.... I told him we could go down and then come up before we left. However, once we got to the bottom, there was a cool video game projected from the ceiling. It lit up the floor over top of a touch-screen-like jump pad. The kids ran around an 8x4 area, kicking pretend soccer balls or jumping on imaginary bubbles to make them pop. I told Eli and Maddux they could have ten minutes. (They were behaving so well and I thought that might be a nice reward for tagging along for Mommy's errand. Both kids had a blast. They jumped and ran with the other children, trying to figure out each game as it popped up. My favorite part came right at the beginning: Eli and Maddux stood just outside of the box, observing the current game. Once Eli grasped the concept, he started to step forward, but then stopped and looked back. He grabbed Maddux's hand and said, "C'mon Maddie....pway wiff me." He did this at least two more times before we left the game rectangle. I know I keep blogging about these fleeting moments of kindness between them, but I use this blog as a journal of Eli and Maddie's life, and I know there will be days in the future where I'll have to look back to remind myself that they got along so great at one point. So for now, life is good.
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