When Eliana was born, we were given a voucher for 4 free tickets to an Indians home game through their Littlest Fan program. We were pretty excited to take all three girls to their first game last night. We contemplated inviting some friends or family, but decided to enjoy some time just the five of us. It started off well at the Kids Clubhouse, but you'll see that enjoy is not exactly the right word to describe our experience. . The 4,000 square foot play space complete with a kids concession stand, crafts and viewing area gave us a false sense of security.
After playing for a little while, we decided to grab dinner for the girls and head to our seats. That would have been fine except a group of elderly fans with canes and walkers needed to move in order for us to get to our spot. I not only felt bad asking them to move, I knew there was no way we were going to be able to get in and out easily if someone needed to use the restroom or got restless. All we could do was settle in and hope for the best. As Mia and Ava munched happily on their first stadium hot dogs and popcorn, the game became rather exciting. The cheers and clapping from the crowd startled Ava so much that she spit her hot dog out all over me. Tears followed and I knew we needed to make a quick exit to somewhere quieter. Thankfully, the people behind us helped Mate and I climb over the seats with the girls so we wouldn't have to bother the group sitting next to us. One of the guys smiled and said something like this will make a good story one day. I was appreciative for his help and kindness.
We made our way back to the play area just in time for Ava to pee all over one of the Little Tykes contraptions she was playing on. Mate scooped her up while I begrudgingly found someone to clean up the mess. I would have preferred to do it myself, but didn't come to the ball park equipped with the right supplies to do so. With that event behind us, Mate and Mia headed outside to watch the game, while I sat at the craft table with Ava. Not five minutes went by before I recognized that she was in the middle of going #2. OMG! Again, she was scooped up and whisked off to the bathroom. What happened to my potty trained child? We rejoined the other members of our family and I assumed the worst was behind us. With all three girls happy, Mate ran to get something to drink. Within seconds of him leaving, Mia started doing the potty dance. I begged her to hold it as I quickly scooped up three children and all our belongings. Poor Eliana was being flung around like a rag doll, Mia was in a bit of a panic and Ava was oblivious to the urgency of the situation. I got Mia to the bathroom door only to realize that her sister thought this would be a good time to play on the teeter-totter. I set Mia down, ran to get Ava and then shoved all three girls into the bathroom. I was sweating like crazy and am pretty sure the people who witnessed our little performance were not impressed.
I was surprised Mate wasn't back by the time we got ourselves put back together. I frantically tried to keep an eye on both the older girls as they ran toward different parts of the play area.
Please don't lose a child. Please don't lose a child. Please don't lose a child. After a few minutes, I saw Mate standing outside the doors waving for me to come over. I corralled all the children while wondering why in the world he wasn't coming in to help me. Apparently, the Kids Clubhouse had reached capacity and they wouldn't let him back in until someone came out. At this point it was probably only the fourth or fifth inning, but we knew it was time to call it quits. The girls were happy, but their parents were not. Just as we were about to exit the ballpark, I spotted two friends from high school. I could have gone unnoticed, but I went over to say hello. Thank you Jeremy and Kevin for excusing the hot dog spit up on my shirt and my general disheveledness (no, that's not a real word). Although we left feeling defeated, I was proud that I didn't let the fact that I was a mess stop me from saying hi to some old friends.
You win some, you lose some.
No comments:
Post a Comment