Those wonderful helping hands around me

 Taryn and Ada Louise. 

Taryn and I went to the American Art Museum with our friends last week. 

Now, I know that art museums can be hard with toddlers, and from my last experience in the Wei Wei exhibit, I was down right scared to try again so soon. But then I remembered what my mom told me when I first moved here. 

I asked her how I could possibly keep taking Taryn to all these museums (mainly those that aren't so child friendly but I still wanted to experience) and she told me that, " Taryn will get used to it. Just keep taking her and she will learn and get better and better." 

So, we went to the art museum which didn't have a specific Child's play area or an interactive display to touch etc... and I had an extra baby along with us too. Not just one toddler to keep up with, but a busy crawler who loves to explore and move just as much as Taryn. 

Was I crazy? Maybe? (ok. yes.) 

But I didn't really worry that much about it actually. I knew that I was going with two great, experienced moms who knew Taryn. I knew Taryn would have a play mate just her age to keep her entertained when the art filled walls didn't keep her attention for more than .03 seconds. And I knew that if I got desperate, I would have help within arms reach. 

I am very lucky to have such great friends whom are ever so helpful when I may have my arms full (literally) with other things (or a baby). I had mentally prepared myself to walk out of the museum after 5 minutes if either one of the kids had a melt down. I wanted to be prepared and not disappointed if everything came crashing down in the museum foyer. Thankfully, I didn't have to walk out. I give a large credit to my friends who helped me accomplish this outing. 

After we had made it home, I really started thinking about my role as a mother. I have gained much experience in the past 21 months and it would be selfish of me not to offer a helping hand to a mother who was struggling to keep a baby happy and a toddler entertained on the Metro. To provide a little snack when my friends have run out of food and we are still a ways from home with hungry kids. It would be selfish not to pick up a toy thrown out of the stroller but an upset baby and hand it back to the parent who hadn't see it fly out. It would be selfish to not reach out to a mother who asked for help.  I never want to overstep the line of parenting because I know that each person has a different way of parenting. But what I want to do is let others know that they can rely on me if they need a little help.

 These two had way to much fun getting soaking wet in the (unusual) water display in the museum atrium.

 Yup, this is how it looked pretty much the entire time.

 Babies. Crawling. Everywhere.

 Everything is a new, fun toy.

 Mr. Washington, thank you for not getting upset with Taryn when she tried to climb on you.

I know that the pictures may look as if we let our children run loose and wild. I'm not saying that didn't happen. But what I am saying is that we tried our best to teach them about walking in the museum, not shouting, and trying to get them to look at the art work every once in awhile. 

We played a lot of different games to try and get them to enjoy themselves and also tried to sneak a look at the art work ourselves too. We are all learning and thankfully there were some other cute kids enjoying their time at the museum too so we weren't the only ones making a scene :)

By the end of the day, these two were out cold. I was happy that they transitioned so well from stroller to cribs. Woohoo- points for me :)

It was a wonderful way to spend our day and I love that I have great friends whom I trust so much