We had an "appointment" between 9:30 and 10:30 for a free breakfast item at Chick-Fil-A, so (you guessed it) I had to wake up my son early in order to get there on time. We barely made it. After I downed my Spicy Chicken Biscuit and he his cereal bar, we headed into the play area. As far as I know, he had never experienced one of these germ havens before. Ignoring the signs directing us to remove our shoes before playing (I purposely put them on him right before we went in, thinking it would be safer for him), we entered the cramped wonderland. His first stop was the large window, on which he proceeded to pound. He quickly tired of this, and moved on to the nearby fake plastic tree. He had no interest in climbing into it; he instead chose to walk around it. Several times. Eventually I got him on, and later down, the short slide on one side of the tree. After putting on a short show for another family, my son decided it was time to go.
As I actually remembered to fully pack "my"diaper bag in the morning, we immediately got on the road. Today's destination- the Lehigh Valley Mall. We stopped in some of his favorite places: The Disney Store, The Apple Store, and Baby GAP, but the real excitement didn't come until we left the mall proper. More on that later. Lunch once again took some improvisation, as I did not pack any food (other than a few snacks), a bib, or washcloth. We ate at The Pita Pit, a new option in the mall. So new, in fact that they did not have some menu items (such as soup- listed as an option for combo meals) or a working ice machine. I ordered us a turkey pita and still felt hungry after finishing it, likely because I had to give most of the turkey to my son.
I noticed on our way in that there was a Guitar Center across the street from the mall. In case I haven't mentioned it before, I am a drummer. I can also fake my way through playing a few other instruments, and I have a small recording studio in my house, but mostly I'm just a drummer. I have done my best to expose my son to as many different instruments as possible in the short time we've known each other. Though it sounds silly, this, our first trip to Guitar Center, was a pretty significant moment in our relationship.
Realizing soon after entering the store that it was not stroller-friendly, I allowed my son to roam free in the store, taking care to not let him mess with anything he could damage (or I couldn't afford). He enjoyed listening to a man play bass along to Van Morrison's Wild Night, but his attention quickly turned to the drum room. Thank goodness. He discovered a couple of doumbeks located right on his level and gave them a good bit of tapping. He found some cymbals to splash. He picked up a tambourine and smacked it on the ground. He programmed some beats on an electronic drum pad (seriously- I don't know what he did, but it changed a bunch of settings). He performed open stroke rolls on numerous snare drums. It was beautiful. I took some video to show to Mommy (and to a lesser extent, Facebook), figuring he would soon tire. Then he discovered the maracas! Davy Jones ain't got nuthin' on my son!
Eventually, I gave the clerk a break and we checked out some of the other departments. My son also loves banging on piano keys; in fact, it was one of the first independent physical movements he ever did. Many of the electronic keyboards were within his reach, so he tested them out. And I turned down their volume controls. I really hope he actually enjoys playing the piano someday, as resisting piano lessons is one of the only regrets I have about my own childhood. I'm fairly certain I won't have to convince him to to take up the drums.
I'm pretty sure we spent more time in Guitar Center than we did in the mall. After a quick trip to Hobbytown USA (if that's not the name of the store, it should be) for a velcro dartboard (it was close to impossible to find one when I actually wanted one for his birthday party), we got back on the road, he took a well-deserved nap, and Mommy's weekend would soon begin.
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