Day 5

Day 5


Today's forecast: whiny with a chance of temper tantrums. Scattered time outs possible.

No kidding, I can tell from the morning that it's going to be rough. Mikey woke up early and all he wants to do is watch cartoons. He's cranky. The bacon (which he likes squishy) is too squishy this morning, he's not going to drink his milk unless it's in his special cup (which I did not bring), he does not want strawberries cut up but whole (I had cut them all up the night before), and he will not wear sun screen or have fun today. By the time we leave the house I am a bundle of nerves. I am hoping that a day at the beach will do both of us good.

So we drive to Hollywood FL. I hear the beaches are nice there and not as crowded as Fort Lauderdale or Miami. By the time we get there, Mikey calms down. The beach is absolutely gorgeous, and there are only a few people on it. I like that. I snap two pictures and the batteries in the camera die.

Looking towards Fort Lauderdale, we see a big storm coming in. Towards Miami it is clear. We're right in the middle, and I hope we're not going to get rained out. We play in the surf for about an hour, and then it starts to rain. Not for long, but long enough for us and the rest of the beach goers to pack up our stuff and seek shelter. By now, Mikey is hungry so we set off on the Broadwalk looking for food. We walk about 1 mile, because we have parked at the furthest point on the beach. And let me tell you, that mile seems as long as the Crucible. Mikey stops on average every 46.29 seconds. He wants his crocs on. There is sand on his foot. He wants water. But not from his bottle, from mine. He wants his shirt on. He wants the towel off. He wants his shirt off now. He wants and wants and wants and whines and whines and calls "mommy" every 5 seconds or so in that tone of voice that he knows I can't take and I am about to lose my minds and for a minute I entertain the thought of taking him back to the cottage and plopping him in front of the TV for the rest of the day just so I don't hear "mooooooooommmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" again, because if I do I will completely lose it. Then I decide against it, we're here, we drove all the way to Florida so we're going to do it, damn it, we're going to have a good day today! We finally find a restaurant, I don't care what they have as long as there is food that he will eat, and it turns out he was hungry, because as soon as he eats his fries and grilled cheese his attitude changes. For the better. I don't have to put him up on Craiglist after all! We find a store, I buy batteries and more water, and we go play. On the playground, in the sprinklers, and then on the beach.

 The hours go by slowly but nicely. He is having fun. He makes a new friend (girls, beware, he tends to gravitate towards you) and together they play in the surf for ever. Once in a while he calls to me to join them, but for the most part I think he forgets I exist, unless he needs more water.

I take it all in. The beach here is crowded, but still not that bad. It is very clean though and well maintained. I like the palm trees lining the beach, and the Carribean music playing behind us. It's very lively. I like the look of the Ocean too. The waves are very small, and the water has patches of beautiful turquoise and jade - which I try in vain to capture with my camera. The pictures don't do it justice.

We hang out for a long time, and I love that Mikey has calmed down and is enjoying his day at the beach. But when his new friend leaves the drama starts all over. I decide it's time for us to go too so I bribe him with ice cream. We find a place and we get ice cream for him and iced coffee for me. What? Over 10 dollars? I would never in my right mind pay that much back home, but then again we are on vacation, and when we are on vacation time and money don't matter anymore. We sit on the wall by the beach and dig into our treats. Then it's time to go back. That mile that we did this morning in the whining tone? Nothing compared to our return trip. I am going to lose my minds. What is wrong with him? Where is this whining and not listening coming from? What is wrong with me to take him on this kind of trip? Did I push him too much? Is he too tired? I will put him to bed as soon as we get back tonight. Is it the French fries he's been eating every day? I will make sure he gets a pound of peas and a bucket of fruit for dinner tonight. What is he trying to tell me? He's at a point where we can't communicate, he tries but I don't think he is able to tell me what's going on, but his behavior is telling me it's too much.

I decide to breathe, breathe, breathe, stay calm and we're going to make it back to the cottage somehow. The walk back takes forever. He wants to stop again and take another dip in the Ocean, so we do just that. He seems to calm down, and we play in the surf together for another half hour. Then we head back, this time for good. He's calmed down, but he's tired. He even says so, and when he says he's tired it means he's dead tired. We make it back to the car, and as soon as I get on the road he's passed out. I will let him rest, tomorrow is another day and I hope the forecast will be better.