Things can change in the blink of an eye. A perfectly sunny, summer day can turn thunderous and deadly without warning. Our feelings can change that quickly, too. I mean look at the Almond Joy/Mounds bar ad campaign from the 80's and 90's. "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." We, as humans, can be pretty fickle and they used that to their advantage, covering both ends of the spectrum. And so describes this past week...
Let me start with the good part. Or should I say the part that makes ME feel good? Last Friday, I decided to do something fun with the older kids. I had been reading about Skyzone for the last few months. It is an indoor trampoline park. There's all kinds of activities held for older kids, so I didn't think it would be too young for a 12 and 15 year old. Bella was very disappointed because with her broken toe she obviously couldn't go. But I have to be honest, that was kind of part of the plan. Bella gets to do a lot of fun things and as the youngest she is always in on the fun of the older two. With Erick home for the day, I thought it would be perfect to have some time with Becca and Harry only.
So after school we are off to Skyzone. I even bought tickets online beforehand so there was no disappointment about getting there and having it sold out (which I have read is a common occurrence). I purchased a 60 minute jump package, because I didn't want to get the 30 minute and have them whining it wasn't enough. As they changed into their special "Skyzone shoes", that are required for jumping, I handed them their tickets and Becca said, "60 minutes? That seems like an awful long time." My first clue that everything might not go as planned.
Here's an brief overview of the Skyzone park. There are three big jumping arenas. Each has trampolines on the floor as well as the walls. This allows you to jump off the wall doing flips if you want. There are also balls that you can shoot into basketball hoops, if you choose. In another area, there are some trampolines that lead to a foam pit. It was all very clean and well kept. There is also a small concession stand for treats. One feature I really enjoyed is that parents can sit on benches that are right next to the jumping arenas. Overall a very fun place to bring your kids to burn off some energy. And now for the rest of the story...
So there is a big clock on the wall so kids know when their time is done. About 8 minutes into jumping, Becca began to point out every minute that ticked away. Seriously, she was done wanting to jump after 8 minutes! She started to complain that she was tired and it was really hard. Here is the video I took of her (after I told her there was no way she was done jumping)
Harry was a little more enthusiastic, but he too was done after about 20 minutes. He enjoyed the freedom of doing lots of flips, but at some points, I think he was more focused on me catching them on video than actually performing.
Always the performer. I must say, I was pretty shocked. They were both out of breath and looked completely out of shape. As Becca sat down for yet another break, I took her sticker, put it on my shirt (yes highly against the rules, I'm sure) and jumped. Now as most of you know, I am neither 12 nor 15 nor even those ages combined. Still over the last year, I have been working out regularly and feel I have a pretty high cardio endurance level. And after 10 minutes, I was done. So my advice is to buy the 30 minute pass. If you buy the 60 minutes or more, be prepared for lots of breaks.
And that brings us to the change. From trying to be supermom to just being, well below par, at best. Yesterday after picking up Becca from school at 3pm, I dropped her off and told her I had to stop at Target to get a few groceries. I pick Harry up at the Target parking lot at 4pm, so I had a little over 1/2 hour to shop. When I got home, I started unloading the groceries. Bella came up to me, with my back facing her, and said this, "Mom, the bus driver dropped me off right in front of my house!" With those few words came the feeling. You know the feeling. When you feel deep down in the pit of your stomach that something has gone terribly wrong. I turned around slowly and looked at my little daughter's face. Then my eyes continued downward to the crutches she was using. The realization set in. That extra 1/2 hour I had spent running to Target was the time I was supposed to pick up Bella from school, so she didn't have to endanger her life getting on and off the bus with her crutches and broken toe.
I shared my "bad Mom" moment with some other Moms and luckily I found them to be sympathetic rather than preparing to dial social services from their cell phones. I think it's just part of the Mom code: "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you are a nut", no matter how hard you try...
Let me start with the good part. Or should I say the part that makes ME feel good? Last Friday, I decided to do something fun with the older kids. I had been reading about Skyzone for the last few months. It is an indoor trampoline park. There's all kinds of activities held for older kids, so I didn't think it would be too young for a 12 and 15 year old. Bella was very disappointed because with her broken toe she obviously couldn't go. But I have to be honest, that was kind of part of the plan. Bella gets to do a lot of fun things and as the youngest she is always in on the fun of the older two. With Erick home for the day, I thought it would be perfect to have some time with Becca and Harry only.
So after school we are off to Skyzone. I even bought tickets online beforehand so there was no disappointment about getting there and having it sold out (which I have read is a common occurrence). I purchased a 60 minute jump package, because I didn't want to get the 30 minute and have them whining it wasn't enough. As they changed into their special "Skyzone shoes", that are required for jumping, I handed them their tickets and Becca said, "60 minutes? That seems like an awful long time." My first clue that everything might not go as planned.
Here's an brief overview of the Skyzone park. There are three big jumping arenas. Each has trampolines on the floor as well as the walls. This allows you to jump off the wall doing flips if you want. There are also balls that you can shoot into basketball hoops, if you choose. In another area, there are some trampolines that lead to a foam pit. It was all very clean and well kept. There is also a small concession stand for treats. One feature I really enjoyed is that parents can sit on benches that are right next to the jumping arenas. Overall a very fun place to bring your kids to burn off some energy. And now for the rest of the story...
Always the performer. I must say, I was pretty shocked. They were both out of breath and looked completely out of shape. As Becca sat down for yet another break, I took her sticker, put it on my shirt (yes highly against the rules, I'm sure) and jumped. Now as most of you know, I am neither 12 nor 15 nor even those ages combined. Still over the last year, I have been working out regularly and feel I have a pretty high cardio endurance level. And after 10 minutes, I was done. So my advice is to buy the 30 minute pass. If you buy the 60 minutes or more, be prepared for lots of breaks.
And that brings us to the change. From trying to be supermom to just being, well below par, at best. Yesterday after picking up Becca from school at 3pm, I dropped her off and told her I had to stop at Target to get a few groceries. I pick Harry up at the Target parking lot at 4pm, so I had a little over 1/2 hour to shop. When I got home, I started unloading the groceries. Bella came up to me, with my back facing her, and said this, "Mom, the bus driver dropped me off right in front of my house!" With those few words came the feeling. You know the feeling. When you feel deep down in the pit of your stomach that something has gone terribly wrong. I turned around slowly and looked at my little daughter's face. Then my eyes continued downward to the crutches she was using. The realization set in. That extra 1/2 hour I had spent running to Target was the time I was supposed to pick up Bella from school, so she didn't have to endanger her life getting on and off the bus with her crutches and broken toe.
I shared my "bad Mom" moment with some other Moms and luckily I found them to be sympathetic rather than preparing to dial social services from their cell phones. I think it's just part of the Mom code: "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you are a nut", no matter how hard you try...
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