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| THE HURRIED PARENT |
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| We didn't have kids when we moved to this valley, but we sensed them coming. Having read the handwriting on the womb, we searched America for a place with "lots to do for children." We had no idea what we were getting into. |
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| Last weekend, along with the plant sales that bloom in May, came a blossoming of children's events. Kids' fairs, toddlers' tag sales, babies' spittle festivals, infant literature conferences, the list went on. |
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| We didn't want our kids to miss a thing. No parent wants his child to come home from daycare in tears because she was the only kid who missed the South Northampton Balloon Fair and Blankie Bash. Who wants to be the last family on the block to hear about the East Greenfield Sun/Moon Festival and Kids' Group Hug? So we tried to have it all last weekend -- fairs, balloons, clowns, and sanity. We got three out of four. |
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| Around here, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get your kids on the fast track to fun. On Saturday, we set the alarm for 5 a.m. The kids were groggy, crying, groping for cereal, but we were going to have tons of fun if it killed us. By 6, we'd dragged them out the door and were on our way to the North Easthampton Pre-School Pancake Breakfast. There was already a long line when we arrived, but we got Elena's face painted while we waited. We got Nate a balloon and tied it to his wrist. Then we mopped up some syrup and were outta there. |
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| "Wait!" Elena shouted. "One more bite!" |
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| "Sorry, no time!" I said. "The Children's 10K is starting in North Southampton!" |
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| We made it to the starting line just in time to get Nate a balloon and have Elena's face painted. When the gun went off, our daughter kept pace with the other kids, step for step. She weakened a little in the last K but finished a respectable 15th in the Two-Year-Old Division, better than her brother did in the Under Six Months group. Each expected a certificate or at least a T-shirt, but we had to move on. |
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| Yes, we agreed as we sped towards the South Westhampton Celebracion de Ninos. The kids are certainly taking over our lives. We no longer do anything for ourselves. At every potluck we attend, there are more puppets than parents. We get more Christmas cards from animals in petting zoos than we do from old friends. And although it's been years since we've been to a movie, we're on a first name basis with every last clown in the valley. We have to change our priorities, we said. We have to start looking out for good old numbers One and Two. We would, we agreed, right after the West Easthampton Infant Health Fair. |
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| Our kids have never suffered from high cholesterol, but you never know. While standing in line to get their cholesterol checked, we got Elena's face painted. She was beginning to look like a late Van Gogh with cheeks. We gave Nate another balloon and suddenly we didn't have to carry him anymore. For the rest of the day, he floated along at about eye level. |
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| With the cholesterol test results in the mail, we grabbed some Tofu Fries and were off. By this time, our kids were halfway between hysteria and dreamland, but we were determined to squeeze every drop of fun from the weekend. No one would tell us we weren't sensitive, caring parents. No one would surprise us with an event we had missed. |
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| By mid-afternoon, we were wolfing down Yeast Pups at the Southwest Amherst Kiddie Contra Dance and Bake Sale. Many in the crowd looked familiar. On the dance floor, pudgy, painted faces do-si-doed while parents we'd seen at ever stop since breakfast slouched against the walls. Some scanned newspaper calendars to see if they'd missed anything in the Under 12 listings. Others sat typing on their laptops, filling out their divorce papers. |
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| Just before dusk, we made it to our last event, the Hurried Child Centering Session in Northeast Leverett Center. We sat in on a session about centering children when they get off center and caught the end of a discussion group on "Caring for Your Child's Inner Child." Some parents disagreed with me when I suggested that adults should spend more time caring for their own Inner Child and leave their kids' Inner Kids alone with the Legos. But I felt I just had to say it. Then we went home and slept like babies. |
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