Parking tickets and humanity
Spent the day with all three of my sometimes rowdy but usually lovely children. We went to Minneapolis, I always miss my city so that's usually my destination. The quietness of the burbs is nice, the "feeling of safety" as well as the fact that it is where our home is now...but I miss the noise, the diversity, the idea that culture is everywhere!
We all went to my favorite museum, is there another museum? :) The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I equipped the boys with a notebook and told them to keep an eye out for their favorite pieces and then to draw that piece and write about it. M- boy walked in and said that the Chihuly piece at the entrance was his fave...he would choose the very first thing he saw just to get it over with! But he drew it and read the info card and learned more about it and wrote somethings down. Mission accomplished! S-boy could not find anything in the three hours we were there, let me clarify, he could not decide which he liked more for he liked many! Another mission accomplished since my goal really was to get them to look at the pieces and to learn about the different styles of art and to have an appreciation for each. Of course A-girl tried to make her loved brothers laugh, and they did, by pointing out the butts on the statues. We had alot of fun and yes it was for three hours !
After the Musuem, we went to a somewhat fancy Indian restaurant in Uptown and ate the kids favorite Butter Chicken with a-girl and m-boy eating rice and s-boy and I eating the naan. Of course we had to order the samosas and 2 orders of pakoras. We were doing so good at saving money, what we are dearly lacking in our one-income-but-have-5-people-family, by getting one entree for all 4, and no beverages, but then we overdid the apps b/c we were hungry. The total was $35, including the tip. Ugh...
We went back to the car to get their scooters to walk to the park as I promised if they ate everything...only to find a parking ticket. A ticket for $42. I suck at this day out stuff. I felt as if I should have stayed home and I got so deeply sad for a few minutes but put on a brave happy face for my children. We moved the car closer to the park and spent more than two hours playing. All the while I am realizing that I just spent $75 for this outing.
At some point, I yelled to my son that "I hate parking tickets" only to get a response from a nearby young mother that she had just gotten her car towed and could not afford the $180 so she did a day of service for the city. She and I bonded over the horrors of parking but our love, nonetheless, for the city and then we spoke of motherhood, wanting to not have money worries and so many other things. It was a wonderful day. The kids all gave me big hugs and said they loved the food and they wanted to do it again and again.
We all went to my favorite museum, is there another museum? :) The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I equipped the boys with a notebook and told them to keep an eye out for their favorite pieces and then to draw that piece and write about it. M- boy walked in and said that the Chihuly piece at the entrance was his fave...he would choose the very first thing he saw just to get it over with! But he drew it and read the info card and learned more about it and wrote somethings down. Mission accomplished! S-boy could not find anything in the three hours we were there, let me clarify, he could not decide which he liked more for he liked many! Another mission accomplished since my goal really was to get them to look at the pieces and to learn about the different styles of art and to have an appreciation for each. Of course A-girl tried to make her loved brothers laugh, and they did, by pointing out the butts on the statues. We had alot of fun and yes it was for three hours !
After the Musuem, we went to a somewhat fancy Indian restaurant in Uptown and ate the kids favorite Butter Chicken with a-girl and m-boy eating rice and s-boy and I eating the naan. Of course we had to order the samosas and 2 orders of pakoras. We were doing so good at saving money, what we are dearly lacking in our one-income-but-have-5-people-family, by getting one entree for all 4, and no beverages, but then we overdid the apps b/c we were hungry. The total was $35, including the tip. Ugh...
We went back to the car to get their scooters to walk to the park as I promised if they ate everything...only to find a parking ticket. A ticket for $42. I suck at this day out stuff. I felt as if I should have stayed home and I got so deeply sad for a few minutes but put on a brave happy face for my children. We moved the car closer to the park and spent more than two hours playing. All the while I am realizing that I just spent $75 for this outing.
At some point, I yelled to my son that "I hate parking tickets" only to get a response from a nearby young mother that she had just gotten her car towed and could not afford the $180 so she did a day of service for the city. She and I bonded over the horrors of parking but our love, nonetheless, for the city and then we spoke of motherhood, wanting to not have money worries and so many other things. It was a wonderful day. The kids all gave me big hugs and said they loved the food and they wanted to do it again and again.
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