Managing My Own Expectations...Again

The day started as a trip downtown on St.Patrick's Day to take a ride on the green ChicagoRiver. But, the color was pretty much faded (you could just see a faint green tint) and the water taxis were closed for maintenance today (figures!). So.... plan B.

We walked about 8 blocks from the river down to Millenium Park. I had Caden on my back (in my MeiTai) and Lucas was a trooper with the walking (we took several breaks to rest his little feet). Once we got there, we all had a blast!
They got a kick out of playing with their superheros in the city. Maybe you haven't heard, but Batman protects more than just Gotham City. I'm sure we can all rest a little easier knowing that.


We hung out and played at the Bean for awhile. And as normal, I had to manage my own expectations a little. My idea of them having fun in the city is different from theirs. Caden was more explorative of the Bean and I had to really watch that little run-away. But for Lucas, having fun by the Bean meant 10minutes of exploring it and then 20min of sitting reading his superhero book. Which bothered me at first, but once I let it go I actually enjoyed sitting by the Bean with the boys reading to them about X-men and the Avengers.

It was such a fun day. I love doing things that are out of the ordinary, taking the boys on adventures that show them something new and hopefully make a few memories. Once we got off the train back in Wheaton and got back in the car, I asked them what their favorite part of the day was. For Caden, it was the train rides (which was predictable). But Lucas' answer puzzled me. He said his favorite part was watching a movie on the train ride. :( It was hard for me to hide my disappointment with his answer and in fact I didn't really even try to. It takes a lot of energy and effort to execute days like today. But it is important to me to give them rich experiences and things that stretch them a bit. And I would, of course, love for them to fully embrace these experiences. I think in their own way they do. It just looks different than I would expect but that is more about me than about them. And I hope that I am laying a foundation for their lives- that they will always want to be adventurous and try new things and live life fully.
Lucas could see that his response upset me. And whether it was to please me or not, about 30min. later he said "Mom, I decided that my favorite part of the day was reading about Spiderman at the Bean." I just smiled and said, "Me too, Buddy." And in retrospect, it really was.
A fun day exploring the city with my boys. Even if it wasn't what I originally expected.


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