Wednesday
Our fake life on Facebook.
On Saturday night I posted a photo on Facebook of the kids hanging out at the Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill, SC. It looked like they were having a great time. They were not. Actually, John Henry was fine - as long as you don't ask him to take a nap or go to bed, he is happy to contribute to the family activity by smiling. Here is the "fake" happy moment.
Here is the real moment that occured 30 seconds before the photo:
This is how it went down with Sienna:
Meltdown #1: She is extremely afraid of loud music - especially live music because she never knows HOW loud the music can be. So she walked around the festival whining with her hands over her ears at the same time somehow holding onto my pant leg.
Meltdown #2: We noticed a playground in the middle of the festival. This distracted her from the music so we were on board and she took off running to the slide. Because she was wearing a dress, she got a "burn" from her bare legs scraping against the slide. Crying ensues. Yay. Moving right along...
Meltdown #3: The Kids Carnival was further away from the music (score!) so we told her we would buy her tickets for ONE game or ride. One kind soul gave us (pitied us?) 3 extra tickets good for one game or ride that they weren't going to use (double score - free tickets!) So she picked the Moon Bounce.
Us: Sienna, are you sure? We didn't look at all of the choices yet."
Sienna: YES! YES! I want to bounce!!
About 3 second into her "bouncing", a bigger boy knocked her over.
Meltdown #4: Consoling occurs and she braves the Moon Bounce again. Until she saw a "Fun House" kind of thing next to the Moon Bounce.
"Mommy!! Mommy!! I want to do THAT one!"
"No Sienna - you picked the Moon Bounce - why don't you play some more because you only have a few minutes to jump."
"Noooooooooo - I want do to that one!!! (Enter crying and stomping.)
Then the whistle blows - No more jumping. (Even more crying. Big crocodile tears and everything.)
Because we are such good parents (Ha!) we rewarded her awesome behavior by letting her pick out a treat. She picked Cotton Candy. She stood sadly in line for her cotton candy. I asked her if she could she please smile and take a picture with her brother?
I told her that she was about to have a treat AFTER Mommy and Daddy let her jump in the Moon Bounce. I told her she should be thankful instead of having a bad attitude.
I took what I could get...our fake happy evening at the festival.
At least it was a beautiful evening and Daniel and I enjoyed it... even with all of the crying. One unexpected thing is that we didn't actually SEE any strawberries at the Strawberry Festival. EXCEPT...
...Check it out, Terra Nova Family....YES! It was a Strawberry Tilt-a-Whirl! It clearly wasn't as amazing as the one at the Enchanted Forest - obviously. But it must have been a hit if Miss South Carolina was takin' a spin or two, right? Do you think the crowns make you go faster?
Here is the real moment that occured 30 seconds before the photo:
This is how it went down with Sienna:
Meltdown #1: She is extremely afraid of loud music - especially live music because she never knows HOW loud the music can be. So she walked around the festival whining with her hands over her ears at the same time somehow holding onto my pant leg.
Meltdown #2: We noticed a playground in the middle of the festival. This distracted her from the music so we were on board and she took off running to the slide. Because she was wearing a dress, she got a "burn" from her bare legs scraping against the slide. Crying ensues. Yay. Moving right along...
Meltdown #3: The Kids Carnival was further away from the music (score!) so we told her we would buy her tickets for ONE game or ride. One kind soul gave us (pitied us?) 3 extra tickets good for one game or ride that they weren't going to use (double score - free tickets!) So she picked the Moon Bounce.
Us: Sienna, are you sure? We didn't look at all of the choices yet."
Sienna: YES! YES! I want to bounce!!
About 3 second into her "bouncing", a bigger boy knocked her over.
Sienna: "Moooommmmmyyy!!" (More crying.)
"Mommy!! Mommy!! I want to do THAT one!"
"No Sienna - you picked the Moon Bounce - why don't you play some more because you only have a few minutes to jump."
"Noooooooooo - I want do to that one!!! (Enter crying and stomping.)
Then the whistle blows - No more jumping. (Even more crying. Big crocodile tears and everything.)
Because we are such good parents (Ha!) we rewarded her awesome behavior by letting her pick out a treat. She picked Cotton Candy. She stood sadly in line for her cotton candy. I asked her if she could she please smile and take a picture with her brother?
A HAPPY picture?
I told her that she was about to have a treat AFTER Mommy and Daddy let her jump in the Moon Bounce. I told her she should be thankful instead of having a bad attitude.
I took what I could get...our fake happy evening at the festival.
Sugar with extra sugar helped.
At least it was a beautiful evening and Daniel and I enjoyed it... even with all of the crying. One unexpected thing is that we didn't actually SEE any strawberries at the Strawberry Festival. EXCEPT...
...Check it out, Terra Nova Family....YES! It was a Strawberry Tilt-a-Whirl! It clearly wasn't as amazing as the one at the Enchanted Forest - obviously. But it must have been a hit if Miss South Carolina was takin' a spin or two, right? Do you think the crowns make you go faster?
Thanks Facebook for tricking everyone into thinking we had a perfect family moment. It was a family memory at least. And I think that counts for something.
Love my drama queen.
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