We slept in a little today, and that was really nice. There’s nothing like lounging in bed until 8:00 a.m., except maybe lounging in bed until 9:00 a.m. Izzy and I got ready and I packed us a lunch and we headed north to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito.
When we arrived, the parking lot was already packed, so I had to park near Travis Marina. No big whoop, plus there was an amazing view.
Izzy reached the terrible two’s six months early. My little Taurus child is willful, headstrong and independent. She didn’t want to get in the stroller, but we parked so far away. If she didn’t ride, she’d be too tired to enjoy the museum once we got there. After a strategically placed knee and elbow, I managed to get her strapped in to the stroller and we were off with just a few more tears streaming down her face.
We went to the counter to pay our fees to get in and I mentioned that it was our first time there. The young woman behind the counter lit up and exclaimed that we certainly must go to the Tot Spot. She went on to explain there was an outdoor play area as well as an indoor play area. We had to be sure to take our shoes off when we got inside. That’s pretty standard protocol for indoor play spaces for kids that we visit, such as the Bright Horizons, JCC or Academy of Sciences.
Once we made it to Tot Spot, the staff person attending the site explained the play area–outside wooded area with climbing structures, play stream filled with water, and two-room indoor play area. She also remarked that I must remove shoes once inside. I figured we should start inside because if Izzy got one look at that play stream, we’d be stuck there all day.
Once inside, I see a sign that says, “Please remove your shoes” and a cubby shelf filled with shoes. Izzy was clambering to get in, but I managed to wrestle her shoes off and kick mine off before she ran amok.
There were lots of fun things to do, but I think Izzy was a bit overwhelmed by it all since it was her first visit, and she’s still a little under the weather. One room had a little padded stage area, lots of puppets, a cave and another climbing type structure. The floor had various spots of different textures and surfaces for walking on. There were little bumble bee and lady bug costumes to wear. All in all lots of fun stuff.
Here’s Izzy with a stuffed quail that she enjoyed playing with.
In the other room, there were three water bed, lily-pad things. I though Izzy would really enjoy playing on them since they were similar to a bounce house, but not quite as rowdy.
I was wrong.
Totally not in to it. Maybe next time.
As we’re hanging out in the water bed pond room, Izzy was busy finding other things to do. I spot a woman walking around in her shoes and putting her feet up on the padded climbing structures calling for her kids who have absolutely no interest in acknowledging her. I approach her and say, “Not sure if you noticed, but there is a sign in front that says, ‘Please remove your shoes.'” I’m expecting a “Sorry, didn’t see that, I’ll take them off. ” What I got was (and in the shrillest voice), “I removed my shoes, I removed my shoes!”
I must have given her one of my famous WTF looks looks because I’m thinking in what bizarro universe does this woman live in where removing your shoes actually means walking all over clean surfaces while wearing your shoes because the next thing I know, she’s yelling at me, “I’m just trying to get my kids out of here. I already had my shoes off once. You’ve got a lot of balls approaching me like that.” I corrected her and calmly stated, “you know what takes balls? Your blatant disregard for common courtesy that the other 30 shoeless people in this room managed to honor.” Damn, that felt good. I like it when I’m fast on my feet like that. Must have been because I was not hampered by shoes at the time. Her response? “Thanks for policing me.” Mine: “You’re welcome.”
Really? That takes balls? Approaching someone and pointing out a sign they may have missed because that person is currently doing the exact opposite of what it said? I’ve got a different interpretation of It Takes Balls.
It takes balls to not think of your own convenience over the rights and protections of others. It takes balls to be kind and compassionate to all living creatures. It takes balls to set a good example for your children.
It takes an asshole to think you are somehow so GD special that common courtesy and rules don’t apply to you or your rotten kids. It takes an asshole to be so self absorbed that only your personal convenience is what matters. She’s probably the kind of person who runs red lights and rolls through stop signs because she just doesn’t have time to wait. I really, really dislike people who act so entitled. It’s no wonder her kids were doing their very own version of F-U mom, we’re not doing what you requested of us. The assholes didn’t fall too far from the tree.
Do you think she would have treated me like that if I had a Bay Area Discover Museum name tag on and said the same thing to her? Yeah, I thought so. Probably.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the preciousness of my daughter, because that is what you are really here for. Either that or pictures of my cats.
I took Izzy out to the stream, and as I expected, she loved it.
After the stream, we sat down together had a little lunch.
Despite the look on her face, she really did enjoy what I packed: turkey, cheddar cheese, strawberry yogurt, carrots, butternut squash, zucchini and cantaloupe. She’s a great eater! I am not cursed with a picky eater…yet. I hear it comes a little later.
We went to another hall where kids can conduct little experiments. Izzy was having a blast with the scale and moving bits of wood back and forth. I love her thinking face, and I think I captured it really well in these shots.
There was more to see and do, but we’ll have to catch up next time we’re there. Izzy was starting to run out of steam, so we packed up and headed home. She had a nice little snooze in the car, and we had a successful transfer to her crib once we made it back home. She’s awake now, so I’m off to do some more fun stuff with my kid. Toodles.
