On Tuesday we had a follow up appointment for Carolina to get her second flu shot of the season. The downside to having our pediatrician in Manhattan is pretty manageable (two trains to get there), but the upside is clear: the time we spend together in the city before and after. These visits often prompt us to look for something fun to do nearby with the girls, and this week the choice was obvious. I'd just read the review of Ann Hamilton's installation "Event of a Thread" at the Park Avenue Armory in the NY Times and seen a FB photo of my friend Micki and her son Hiro there last week. Sometimes you just know when a piece speaks to you and seeing the giant swings and billowing curtain assured me this could be a family-friendly outing. And it almost was...
Kind of like my post last summer about how Facebook and blogging have a way of perpetuating deceit, the snapshot of our time swinging around and lounging in this beautiful space was not nearly as carefree as it appears. It wasn't a total nightmare either. But most of my time was spent chasing a cranky toddler around while she weaved in and out of the swings and screamed from one end of the Armory to the other. Let me tell you, the acoustics are awesome. I tried my best to take some photos in the midst of the chaos because it really did seem that Nacho and Elisa were having fun. But every time I put the camera up to my eye, Carolina bolted and I couldn't be sure she wasn't going to take a wooden swing right in the face. As for trying to get her on the swing, she wasn't a fan. Probably because of her earlier vaccination and her post-shot stroller nap, she was in a very clingy mood with me. Nacho tried to take her for a bit, but she only wanted "Ma-ma." Thankfully, the space was huge and even with her crazy antics and bursts of movement, we managed to keep her out of other people's way.
And Elisa wasn't without her own drama either. She didn't like sitting by herself on the swing and whined for most of the time we were tending to Carolina. Just looking around at all the adults having such childlike fun swinging and talking to friends and hanging out made me realize these kinds of things are so different depending on who you're with. And for now, my companions are too young to really see beyond their own immediate needs to appreciate the bigger picture--that this kind of room doesn't exist anywhere else. So I took some photos and tried to savor one last swing by myself. And then we packed it up and headed back out on the cold sidewalk. But given the chance to go back there alone, I'd totally do it. Sometimes being a kid again is so much better without kids.
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