After several weeks of contemplating it, I finally did the unthinkable. I took all three boys to the little science museum downtown - by myself. It was a perfect day to try it out. The little guys and I were going to have to pick Connor up from school at noon, so we would already have the stroller and everyone would be in car seats. It was raining outside, so we would be stuck in the house and the boys have been restless this week already. So, I thought, why not?
The boys needed lunch, so I opted to try something different (you know, other than McDonald's for once). It turned out to be a bad choice, apparently, because the popcorn chicken and tator tots (from Sonic) that the boys have eaten on previous occasion were unceremoniously sniffed and tossed onto the floor of my truck. The did condescend to drink a little of my vanilla coke. So we got out of the truck unhappy and probably a little bit hungry.
Oh, and add to that the fact that Sawyer actually fell asleep on the way to the museum, and had to be woken up only to refuse the bad lunch. Mind you, this is my child who doesn't EVER want to sleep (who was actually awake about two hours in the middle of last night, which might explain his little afternoon siesta). He was seriously displeased to be woken up. He was extremely pissed when he saw what it was for. He remained that way for the entire two block walk (the little guys were in the stroller) and for the first 10 minutes inside the museum. His crying made Xander cry, which just increased the ridiculous level of screaming. I was that mother today.
Connor, on the other hand, was extremely excited to be going to the "boat school" and was very calm and cooperative the whole way there, even holding my hand as we pushed the stroller those two blocks. His calm and his willingness to obey left him the moment we got inside. He could see the boats behind the glass, and he was mad that we had to actually stop and go through admission - you know, the whole five seconds it takes to show our membership card, get our stickers for our shirts, and then go. He was mad, his brothers were still crying, and I was seriously questioning my sanity at the moment.
But, we made it to where the boats were. I tried suckers for the little guys, thinking I might buy myself some time for Connor to play since they were already in a bad mood anyway. No such luck, they wanted out of the stroller. Okay, I thought, we'll try it. I got them both down and encouraged them to play at the river exhibit Connor loves (and will spend hours at if you'll let him). It worked for about five minutes, and then they were ready to move on. Sawyer remembered where he was and wanted his water table. Xander wanted that same little play area, where his wooden toys and beads were. I put them back in the stroller, bribed Connor away and we moved to the little kid area. Sawyer's face lit up. He went straight for the water table. Xander made a beeline for the wire and bead table toy. Connor condescended to amuse himself with the "baby toys" for a little while, actually enjoying the water table with Sawyer for quite some time.
And then came the next issue. Connor suddenly needed to potty. Of course, Mommy should have anticipated this. He doesn't potty at school, ever, and he had helped Mommy with her vanilla coke before we came in. Sawyer and Xander were both pissed to be put back into the stroller and taken to the bathroom. They screamed the place down. We scared a mother and two older girls, who peeked their heads in the door and turned back around. Always nice.
With the boys already strapped in, I decided to try a different trick. There is a separate room on the back of the museum, called the "Discovery Room" that has a bunch of educational-type toys. Books, wooden puzzles, magnet toys, kitchen sets, science toys, you name it and they probably have it. There's also a wooden train table that Connor had spied the Sunday I took him, when that particular room is closed. So, I thought we could all manage there for the remainder of our time.
That little room is worth hours of amusement to my three boys. They all played happily, and mostly by themselves (okay, not helping on the socialization, but definitely helping on the crankiness factor today that they didn't have to share at all).
Connor spent a big part of his time at the train table, playing with pretend tools and pretend cooking. He stalked the one little boy and his father who were in the room with us for a short time, trying to steal each toy the little boy put down (such nice manners, I know). He did actually share when prompted, and even once or twice offered the little boys something nice to go with what he was already playing with (without being asked to do so).
Xander found several science toys to amuse him - a bunch of bright colored balls that clicked their way around a wooden spiral, pegs that linked together to form a long line, magnet toys that made shapes. He bounced around from one to the other, always busy and always happy.
And Sawyer, my OCD child, he was in heaven. There was a huge marker board and a big bin of magnetic letters. He lined them up row after row after row to his heart's content. He eventually moved away and lined up the colored balls Xander had discarded, and finally got in on the magnets at the very end, too. It wasn't the water table (which makes his whole face light up), but he was smiling and dancing around. He was happy here, too.
All in all, a good day. But a long one, and a bit of a strain on Mommy's patience. I'm thinking that future trips should be on non-school days (less stress for all of us) and earlier in the morning (no meal or nap issues). I'm also thinking it's best to take someone with us if all three boys are going, unless I'm really desperate to get out of the house. And, most important, if all three boys are coming, we need to make sure the three-year old doesn't need to potty before we begin.
It was a challenge, but at least I know I CAN do it, if I WANT to do it. And despite the crying and screaming at various bumps, I think the kids enjoyed it. At any rate, they all cried when it was time to go home.
Oh, and sorry, there are no pictures because in the ridiculous amount of stuff I remembered to pack (double stroller, extra clothes for after the water table, small diaper bag to fit in the bottom of the stroller, cooler with juice cups for lunch, suckers, phone and wallet, etc.) - I didn't think to put the camera in the truck. Bad Momma-Razzi.
