Just Keep Waddling

Thursday

Mama and her ducklings

Awesome swinging suspension bridge from the mid 1930s

Climbing the coulees  

Davis on the summit

A bottlecap is also a good tool

for excavating dinasaur bones.

  

The marvelous mushroom rocks known as the Hoo Doos

Then a 2.5 hour drive to Calgary to meet up with my forever friend Lindsay at her exclusive lake community......a perfect oasis for a plus 38 degree day.

But before we reached the bliss of this picture...

We had just made it to the southern fringe of Calgary when our lowest point of the journey began to unfold.  

By Maddy's hysterical shrieking I gathered something was wrong.  

A simple travesty: one of her crocs had apparently fallen out of the van two and half hours ago when I opened the door, and she had just discovered its absence.  

"We have to go back!!!"

"I won't have another single moment of fun for the rest of the trip!!!"

"It was so special to me!!"

"It's all your fault!!"

and other such carrying on at the top of her lungs.

Those of you who know Maddy cannot begin to comprehend the volume of hysteria that she is capable of.  It may shock you to realize that this most quiet, demure child regularly shoves off from rational planet earth and goes into orbit.

Multiple times a week in fact!  

(Someday I will write more about that, because it is fascinatingly difficult)

Anyway, Cinderella's bellows of rage and grief over her lost croc soon roused poor Davis from his nap...

And the two of them went on and on in their duet of doom, inconsolable, until I pulled into the parking lot of our destination.  

Then they ramped it up all the more.  

After our 2 and half hours of driving, all they both wanted was for me to turn around and go back! 

At that moment Lindsay arrived to witness my sad fate and, luckily, her charm seemed to break their mad spell a wee bit, so I threw our bathing suits in a bag and we slowly waddled and wailed our way over to the gate.

Now...

Here is where I sprinkle a little Sugarspoon Parenting Magic on Davis....

(one of my favorite tactics, which I will also be blogging more about soon!)

      There he was shouting, "no! no! no!"

              trying to climb out of my arms, "go back! go back!" 

                           just a total wreck from lack of sleep.  

And in a hushed tone of wonder I posed, "hmmmm, would you look at that locked gate...I wonder what's on the other side......there must be something so special through that gate...I wonder what is on the other side....and they only let some people in....oh look! my friend over there is one of the special people who they let through the gate....and that woman is about to press a button to unlock the gate...."

As I narrated the scene with expectant delight and intrigue, my little fellow's eyes came back into focus and started to see the real world again, he flickered a micro smile, and he stopped crying.  

He had been enticed out of his blind tantrum :)

It's a magic that works for me (which I am continually experimenting with)

Some of the keys being:

my persistent calm 
   a musical tone in my voice, 
       my authentic curiosity and wonderment, 
                soothing repetition, 
                        determined optimism, 

Basically, staying calm and confident in my position of authority, unfazed by their ridiculousness.  

I am the Mama Duck!  and I will gently call them back into formation (just keep waddling, just keep waddling!)

I share this story because on the other side of all the trauma was purest bliss.  We swam and swam and washed away the sorrows of unrequited crocs and hijacked naps.  

We pressed the re-set button and I was able to relish my time with one of my oldest friends.  

Well, we then proceeded to spend about 2 hours in a grocery store.  Have you ever had that experience where you've been roughing it awhile and then you walk into a real store -- everything becomes so interesting and desirable!

After 4 whole days our cooler was finally empty, as was the gas tank, and our water supply.  We made countless rounds around the upscale Save on Foods, ordered and ate their cheap Thursday pizza special, and eventually headed out towards a setting sun to find a campground!

Okotoks :)

Last gem of the day...

It was his first time: gathering the stones, forming the circle, collecting the sticks, lighting the match, tending the fire.

All evening long Brayden was utterly entranced, in his own little seventh heaven.

My little camping man.