Setting: It's our first night at our resort and we're heading out to dinner just after 7 pm- problem 1) it's Carys' bedtime and 2) it's Paisley's witching hour. Needless to say, we had 2 irritable kids. Darren is holding Carys and I'm trying to console Paisley. People are staring at us like we have 2 heads, each, because 1) what are we doing out with 2 kids at that hour? and 2) what in the heck are we doing on vacation with kids? So, they comment, they pretend they don't see us, they roll their eyes, they are glad they aren't us.... (for a moment, we did feel like those parents you see in Wal-Mart doing their late-night shopping with wailing kids)- Then, a pair of lovely British ladies stop us with the biggest smiles ever. One of the 2, immediately scooped Paisley from my arms and, rocked her and bounced her and got her to sleep in 2 seconds flat. "It breaks my heart to hear a crying baby", she says. So it was either her strong smell of perfume,, her love of children or her big bosom that calmed Paisley immediately. I think it was the latter and I'm ready to grow myself a pair. We joked and asked her if she could meet us at the same spot the following evening. We laughed. We thanked her and proceeded to enjoy a nice dinner.
More days and nights proved the same with these random strangers. Add a giant Mickey Mouse to the mix and a gigantic double stroller contraption and people really stare or spark a conversation. This is how we met most people. Some people were itching to hold Paisley and we had no problem handing her over. We mostly attracted older people and/or people with kids. Childless couples avoided us like the plague and would hardly make eye contact. Were they scared that we would make conversation with them, wondering what could they possibly have in common with us?
Two days into our vacation, we met a nice couple from Essex, Ontario. We took an immediate liking to them and vice versa (I think)- They especially adored Carys and Paisley. We would bump into them after dinner in the RIU's gigantic lobby and we'd chat. Subsequent evenings had them babysitting Paisley while Darren, Carys and myself enjoyed a *quiet* dinner. It was great.
If you're travelling with kids alone (ie. without an extra pair of hands, aka. grandparents), you're best off finding these random strangers who will gladly help you out. They were definitely a saviour for us.
2 comments:
Oh, you're so lucky that you had such kindness from random strangers! And those childless (and insensitive) ones had no idea what they were missing out on. Who wouldn't want to hold a cute, cuddly baby / kid like yours? Bah to them.
Ha! I laughed when I read the walmart comment. I think the baby-less strangers were probably afraid that parenthood was contagious. I think you were pretty brave to get out there on vacation with 2 little ones and I am very happy to hear that people were willing to help.
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