Thank You

Yesterday, we did a family field trip to IKEA. And I'm here this morning to brag shamelessly. The IKEA warehouse in Emeryville is huge. I mean, bafflingly, overwhelmingly huge. And you're fed through it like rats in a maze, complete with arrows painted on the floor to keep you from getting lost forever. I assumed it would be unbearably boring for the boys, so I prepped a bag of raisins for snacks, and spent a lot of time talking about stuff, showing them the bits that were interesting. Both boys comported themselves beautifully. I think I started in telling Rowan how proud I was of how well he was coping (and acknowledging that he was, indeed, coping) midway through the Offices section, and kept it up as the screams of other bored-beyond-capacity children echoed off the cavernous interior. We spent some time in the Children's section, because they have play structures there, and it allowed Rowan to both blow off some steam, and to be the focus. Interestingly, my child is not the shopper a lot of kids are. Jason and I kept asking if he wanted things, and he kept declining. Really amazing. He did end up with a flashlight with a snake body, and a hanging chair of his own for the apple tree. At the end, we bought some cookies for the car trip home. Despite the fact that Emeryville isn't that far from home, the rush hour traffic makes it more of an expedition than tiny stomachs can endure comfortably, thus, one sensibly provisions before starting the engine. And being as how they were Swedish cookies, they had no corn syrup (a uniquely American perversion, that; to replace plain old sugar with corn syrup, which makes Rowan violent and insane). So there we are. We have just endured Megashopping, and both boys were still smiling and happy as they got into their seats to go home. No dramas, no crazies. I handed each boy a cookie. And Kestrel, who is now just 15 months old, took his cookie and clearly said, "Thank you!" I am blessed and graced beyond all reason.