Have you ever stood on a busy street corner and blown kisses at the cars? Probably not. People would think you're crazy.Have you ever jumped into a fountain at the entrance of a world famous museum and splashed about? Probably not. Security would escort you off the property.
A few weeks ago, my little son Alex and I stood in downtown Anchorage, Alaska on a busy weekday morning blowing kisses to cars racing by us. Some drivers ignored us, but many more smiled and I am pretty sure we almost caused an accident as one driver blew a kiss back. Some 10 days later, and 3700 miles south, in the City of Los Angeles, Alex jumped into a fountain at the Getty Museum. I jumped in to get him out. No one ignored us, a few people smiled and only Alex blew kisses.
At just 18-months, I can see my son is just like me. He wants to do everything and he can do it all by himself. For me, traveling everywhere with Alex means often having to do things his way. He will push his stroller when he wants to, he will choose when to sit in a high chair in a restaurant, and he will jump into fountains now and then. My mother will say, I need to start enforcing some rules. But, I like that Alex has brought out my own inner child that's been secretly buried since sometime in college. (What would have happened if I had jumped in the fountain then?) As a mom on the road with baby along for the ride, Alex gets strapped down in car seats for extended road trips and dragged through airports. He is forced to tolerate temperatures from 100 degrees to minus 30, and adjust to time zones stretching the globe. So, every now and then....you just gotta jump in, splash around and blow kisses to the crowd.
