New York, New York

August 21, 2008

It was absolutely beautiful yesterday afternoon, so we headed across town and took James for a little hike. He was quite the mountain man, climbing all the way to the top of the hill in nothing but a worn out pair of Crocs.

Yes, my kid does own a sturdy pair of sneakers--but I'm a self-proclaimed mediocre mother, so he wore Crocs. Just wait until I let him sport his water shoes in the middle of February--then you'll really be impressed.

When we reached the top of the mountain (and I know I have a lot of Utah readers, so I use that term in the most casual sense of the word), we met up with a very nice couple who had a three-year-old boy named Danny.

After a few minutes of conversation--and a few minutes of observing their BlackBerry use--we learned that they were from Westchester County, and both worked as attorneys in New York City.

From what I could gather, they were taking a few weeks to unwind at a family cabin up here in Maine, and they were strangely mystified by our way of life. They asked us questions about everything from property taxes, to the job market, to what to do with a three year old.

Wait a minute. Hold the phone...What to do with a three year old?

These nice people were staying in a cabin, with a huge yard, on a lake, with a dock--and they wanted to know what to do with a three year old?

I don't know, maybe let Danny run around the yard for a few hours without having to worry about traffic, or kidnappers, or hypodermic needles? Just a thought. Or let the boy hang a worm in the unpolluted lake and catch a non-radioactive fish that only has two eyes?...Launch a canoe? Toss a frisbee around? Swim?

They were all, "We've been here for three days and we've already been to the children's museum, gone to an animal farm, taken a scenic drive, gone out for ice cream, did Old Orchard Beach, and played mini-golf. Twice."

Jared turned to me and was like, "We have a children's museum?"

I kind of shrugged and shook my head and said, "I don't know. I guess so."

They went on to tell us that they tried to go out for dinner at nine o'clock on Sunday night, but they couldn't find anything that was open--did we have any suggestions?

Well of course I had no suggestions, all I could say was, "Dinner at nine o'clock? Oh my gosh! Weren't you starving?!"

They really were nice people, I can't stress that enough, but I can't help but think they chose the wrong place to take a vacation. Next year maybe Disney World. Or a cruise.