The trouble with being a second child is that your daily schedule usually revolves around your older sibling’s.
Big brother has a midday 4th of July parade at camp? Sorry, baby. Nap time’s over.
***
Parents were instructed to arrive at 11:45am for the noon parade. I wanted to get there closer to 11:30 just in case parking was difficult. Who knew how many moms and dads would show up for this? Plus, I figured I could use the extra time to find a nearby bench and feed Asa a small lunch.
As Asa at his yogurt, I watched the other parents — mostly moms — start congregating where the preschoolers would be marching in their red, white, and blue tie-dyed t-shirts. There was still 10 or so minutes to go until showtime.
Many of the other parents seemed to know each other, and I was worried I’d be standing there all alone (well, with Asa), when I spotted a childhood friend. We reconnected when I learned we’d be living in the same neighborhood, and he was the one who told me about this camp. His daughter is also in the preschool group but in a different class than Levi.
So I waited with my friend and his wife for the 4th of July parade to begin. They had both left work to attend, and we joked that parenthood is taking an hour out of your day to watch your kid march in a circle for 5 minutes.
Only we weren’t really kidding.
But what an adorable 5 minutes it turned out to be! The campers were decked out in stars and sparkles and plastic necklaces. They waved their handmade decorations and distractingly circled the roundabout while we all cheered and waved and took photos.
Then it was over. Some parents took their children home early, and when Levi saw them leaving, he didn’t want to stay for the remaining 3 hours. If he hadn’t looked so exhausted, I would’ve encouraged him to finish the day, but he doesn’t get a nap at camp and desperately needed some extra sleep.
And so, our holiday weekend began at 12:30pm on Thursday, July 2nd — even though I still had plenty of work to do that day. But at least it kicked off with a parade, right?
Tell me: What does “parenthood” mean to you?
PS – Thoughts on low-key summer fun.
What a fun weekend!! Your son is a cutie 😉
Thank you! Hopefully one day he’ll decide that it’s OK to smile for the camera 😉
ha ha I love this! It’s so TRUE! There are so many things I do now for my kiddos that are so ridiculous but because its MY kids I’m like “well this is the best”!
I appreciate the crazy things my parents did for me when I was kid so much more now that I find myself doing the same for my kiddos!