Jump and Jacks

We started the day in tears, after Benjamin saw Jeremy for five minutes, and then had to say goodbye. It was a repeat of the day before. And, the day before that…

The first thing he said when he saw Jeremy was, “work.” He said it in such a defeated way, that Jeremy said, “That is so sad.” And, Benjamin replied. “Sad.”

So, after a teary morning, we finally made it over to Jump and Jacks. I would love to say it was an amazing trip with lots of fun and laughter, but unfortunately, the drama and theatrics  continued there. WE did have fun… for the most part.

The place opened Sunday, so everything was new and fresh. Benjamin loved the many slides and places to climb. It is a gigantic structure, really made for slightly older kids. But, in the morning on a school day, the place was filled with toddlers and preschoolers. So, it was a good crowd.

 

They also had an interactive video game, with versions of Whack a Mole, Frogger and some other random smashing games.

The trouble started when Benjamin began to cry from a very high climbing place. I felt compelled to crawl my way up there to make sure he was OK. Of course, the moment I arrived, he said, “Mama, slide!” He just wanted me to play with him. So, I huffed and puffed my pregnant self to get him, and then squeezed into a claustrophobic enclosed slide with him. We reached the bottom, and he climbed right back up, calling “Mama! Mommy!” The whole way. I told him no, and that he better not go up there again. But, he did, of course. And that is when the screaming began. People looked at me like I was a terrible mom, and one employee even asked if I wanted him to go rescue my son. I told him Benjamin was just having a tantrum and would come down when he was ready. It took a LOOOOOOONNNNG time, but he then came down the slide smiling. I think I won the war, though, because no matter how much he called for me after that, he kept coming back down. I know, a good mom would have crawled up there to play with him…but I have my limits. I don’t do small plastic tunnels! So, in this picture, you can picture his pouting face peeking out of the top window there.

He  left unwillingly, kicking and screaming… the tantrum kept up until I finally just put him to bed and hour early. He is sleeping. I can’t decide if I should worry that maybe he is sick, or chalk it up to an angry and confused toddler who misses his Daddy. But, in any case, PRAY FOR US! We have a long month ahead of us. Thankfully, Jeremy will be home all day tomorrow. I could just cry with relief over that fact!