Family Outings

We spent this weekend immersed in a little bit of island culture. It was the annual Micronesian Island Fair at Ypao Beach Park, and it highlighted 10 island groups of Micronesia including Guam. My girls were particularly fascinated by the dancers. The music was hypnotic, and they couldn’t help but move with the groove. They kept running in and out of the crowds trying to get closer to the stage. I had to keep running after them. It was exhausting at times trying to balance keeping them safe and close to me and yet letting them explore.

When you have young kids it’s tempting to stay home a lot. After a week of work and school, it’s nice to stay in and have no agenda. I mean, lets face it, sometimes the thought of bringing changes of clothes, diapers, strollers, snacks, drinks, blankies and all the other paraphernalia is too much! I just want to order pizza and open a bottle of wine. I have to fight the urge to do this all of the time though. Kids learn how to behave in restaurants and public places by actually going there, getting it all wrong and being corrected. When we first moved here, my kids went crazy in restaurants. No kidding, I would spend all my time pulling kids out from under the table and explaining why screaming songs from The Little Mermaid was inappropriate!

The more we venture out for little outings, the better we get at it. First and foremost, we’ve lower our expectations. Just getting out of the house for a change of pace is usually our goal. We usually go for outings in the morning before naps or in the afternoon after they wake up from naps. Whatever we do, we only plan to be gone for a couple of hours at a time. And when the crying becomes overwhelmingly consistent, regardless of what we are doing, we start our trek home. All in all it’s getting better, and we’re still having fun!

Sheila Cason, MD