My Proudest Moment in Parenting

My proudest moment in parenting was in April 2008. Zoe was nine months old. We had just taken Jason out of the daycare he went to 2 days a week for five months while I floundered my way through Zoe’s first half year, and I was home alone with both children on a Tuesday morning. We read through the Turtleback Zoo book I’d made for Jason with pictures of the animals and of him from our different visits there. I thought of going to the Turtleback Zoo, but was bored with it. I remembered the zoo in Bergen County that some moms I knew had talked about. I told the kids we were going on an adventure, packed them and the mainly untested MacLaren double stroller, plugged the address into the GPS and off we went with food for the baby, a few diapers and wipes, a bottle of water and sunscreen.

It was a beautiful, if somewhat hot day. The trip took about 35 minutes. Jason actually agreed to sit in the stroller. The admission was free that day. The zoo was the perfect size, and all flat ground, unlike the Turtleback, which is ridiculously hilly. They have animals from 5 continents. The skimpy refreshment cart, which I’d been warned about, worked perfectly for us: Jason and I munched hot dogs while sitting on a stone wall, feeding Zoe a jar of baby food. I remember few details about that day other than the clarity of my decision at 9:15 a.m. that we should go there, the serendipity of hot dogs (Jason’s favorite) being the only offering on the lunch cart, and possibly racing a Mallard duck and drake along a canal path, Jason on foot and Zoe in the stroller. (That might have been a different visit, as it’s now one of our regular stops.) And one more thing: I recall wheeling my contented children back to the car at about 1 pm, bumping over divets in the dirt parking lot, feeling like I’d conquered the world. I took my children on a spontaneous road trip to an unknown attraction and everything had worked out perfectly. A new spirit of adventure was born in us that day. Jason and Zoe, now 5 and 3, and I, their intrepid guide, love nothing more than an outing, and think nothing of scooting off somewhere when we find ourselves bored and irritable at home at 10 am.

Thinking about it now, there must have been some low points in that day: Jason wasn’t yet potty trained, so I think I changed two diapers in the back of our SUV when we got back to the car. I know they both slept the whole way home, so they likely stayed up the rest of the afternoon, defying my prayers for 30 minutes of peace. Yet the overall feeling was one of accomplishment, and joy. That was the day I changed from an inept, underprepared, and consistently exhausted and stressed out mother into a competent, fun-loving mom who was willing to try almost anything. In my mind, anyway. And that has made all the difference.