Best Day Ever X3 1/4 - Part 1

Arrival to Kalibo airport. Our little traveler.

You know it's been a good vacation when:
*Your kid vomits then 5 minutes later wants to jump back in the pool. (We didn't let him in case you're wondering).

*Pina Colada's and chocolate milkshakes begin at 10:30 am. Every day...
OOOOH perhaps that explains the above incident.........

* Your eyes close while eating, because you want to savor each and every second of each and every bite.

* When the above happens at every single meal...Ok every single helping.

* When above post(s) meals in question are buffets......mmmmmmmmmmm. Sweet momma cakes.

* Your kid refuses to get on a boat because of a mishap while snorkeling. *cringe* But it's snorkeling, and in that respect, that's awesome right??

*You can drop your kid off at the hotel's Kid's Adventureland- Open from 8-7...and he actually wanted to go. AHHHH!!!!!!

                                          

*You wake up by 7 am (EVERY DAY) on purpose because you don't want to waste another second sleeping.

*You leave clothes unfolded, scattered around the room and all is folded neatly by the bedside upon arrival back to the room. Room fairies. ahhhhhhh.

*A local band plays Xtreme's More than Words after Sun Down while snuggling with my honey on the balcony.

*When the room actually has a useable balcony.
*Reading on aformentioned balcony after sundown, while still in minimum 80 degree weather.

*Your son starts talking about HongKong, Manila and Singapore while discussing saftey procedures on how to evacuate a plane. All in basic conversation.
*When a hotel representative stands in line at the local airport and completes all the paperwork for you upon departure.
*You come back with a tan.

* Over 3/4 of your clothes in your suitcase are clean because you were in a bathing suit/coverup pretty much the entire vacation.

*There's a fireworks display after an amazing meal. Seriously?? Pinch me. Just pinch me.

*When your husband lets you take a picture of him standing in a heart made out of seashells. I swear I didn't make it...we found it. Really.

*You smile while staring off in the distance because you're re-hashing fantastic memories of one of the best vacations you've ever had......wondering if you can possibly top such awesomeness.

Unless we go back to the same place for a longer amount of time, I am seriously doubtful if we could possibly top this vacation.  Though it doesn't seem like it currently, I am at a loss of words. Boracay is beautiful.

I hate you, can I have some cake?

I'm having a moment. Writing for me is a calming therapeutic tool that helps to release my anguish, rage and frustration in a moderately healthy way. Lucky you.
Let me just say, I admire parents. Single parents, working parents, stay at home parents, aging parents, a parent of one or a parent of five. It makes no difference how old you are, how old your kids are... You're still a parent. Period. 
Kids. They will kill you. They will make you laugh, scream, giggle, snort, tear up, beam up, ball your fists up or sometimes shut up. Yes. Sometimes they just render you speechless. Children evoke every single kind of emotion known to man. Shoot, they evoke emotions that are still yet unnamed. Please tell me I'm not alone here.
As a social worker with some advanced education, I know the politically correct things to say. I'm aware of what the appropriate response should be....if it's for someone else. School does not however prepare you emotionally of how to react to your own child when he utters those dreaded words. I hate my mom.
*sigh*
Scoop? I'd been with my son almost all day. In fact it was a great day. A fun day. He was room helper, there was a Chinese New Year Party at school, a potluck, (I brought in kick butt lantern cakes) not to mention I had  gone to his KA class earlier in the morning to make dragons with his class. I was having a "I love being a mom" kind of a day. Someone even had a birthday party and he had ice cream cake. Ice cream cake!!! I mean does it get any better? (and this was in addition to the cake I had already brought in for the potluck. Stay with me, this is important foreshadowing).As if that wasn't awesome enough, Wyatt had a play date after school. let me repeat, could this day possible get any better??? No. Apparently it could not. 
Fast forward. So we're at his friend's house, I'm talking to my girlfriend and Wyatt starts to interrupt. Interrupting is  a huge pet peeve of mine, and I calmly told him that I would not respond unless he said "excuse me" first. He has a huge issue with saying excuse me- why? I haven't quite figured that out. Stubbornly he walks away(OHHHHH he's stubborn) and I continue my conversation with my girlfriend. She then said, does he usually say that? If this were a novel I would say my eyes narrowed .....Say what? 
Wyatt had apparently turned to his friend and said, I hate my mom. 
What he wanted that he didn't get? Cake and juice.

Go ahead. How do you really feel??

Ouch.
So where did that come from? 
I didn't know what to do. It was literally as if my world froze. I was paralyzed. Not only was I feeling like an inadequate social worker, I was an inadequate mother. What do I say? How do I act? I took him to the back room and really didn't quite know how to handle it. Um, you hurt my feelings? How old am I anyway? The fact was, he didn't care and I realized this really wasn't the place to do whatever it was that I didn't know what to do. So we came home and I lost it. I started to tell him how much he hurt my heart....I'm not sure what happened, but I broke. I mean literally broke,  fell to pieces. In the kitchen, on the floor I sat, bawling my eyes out. Wyatt stood looking at his blubbering mother, eyes misting unsure what to do. He said sorry and I told him to please just go. A bit later I pulled myself together and sat on the couch while he peered around the corner. We just looked at each other and I held my arms out. He crawled onto my lap and we stayed like that for a long time. Neither of us saying anything, I cradled my baby and my world started to unthaw a bit....he fell asleep in my arms.
See, the Internet chat lines and psychologists say not to take it personally. Pre -schoolers are identifying feelings and aren't able to adequately identify their emotions..we need to help them; identify what they've said, use it as a teaching moment.....Parents comment and say, don't take it personally.blah blah blah. Some admit they cracked a tear, but know their kid didn't mean it. C'mon. Bull. Let's get real.
Words hurt and kids need to know it. By the age of 5 kids know (MY kid knows) that when he says I hate you to someone, it hurts, wounds.... Look. I know my son loves me. I don't doubt that. I know he was frustrated. I know he was angry. He has used those words and is aware of those words and their meaning. He also is smart. More honesty? I have to say the whole experience was very humbling. I've always held Wyatt to a higher standard. Short of saying my kid's better than everyone else's, I'm afraid I'm a bit disillusioned.  I listen to my girlfriends  talking of their kids and the things they say, always listening with an empathetic ear, nodding sympathetically while secretly ecstatic that MY son would never do or say such things. Well, look who's been knocked down a few pegs. A little more honesty? How do MY words hurt others. Hmmm. Maybe the lesson today was mine. 
I'm afraid the days of horrible words coming from my son are just beginning. I am almost sure though that there is one sentence he will not utter (at least out loud) again. 
P.S. He did not get more cake. 

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Well, kinda. He's the president of our house at least. We celebrated the end of the year with Will's co-workers a couple weeks ago. The party happened to land on Will's Birthday which made him feel pretty special. The food? AH-MAZING. Granted I was cheating on my South Beach diet at the time, so I may not have been the best food critic. The restaurant had a French name but was actually German-Taiwanese fusion. Weird I know, but I repeat AH-MAZING. I believe the pictures speak for themselves. In case they don't, we had a fabulous time. Oh, and the hat was complimentary of the restaurant upon them finding out it was Will's Birthday. I didn't want anyone questioning how I let me husband walk out of the house. Bonus? The hat was lice -free.

Dumpling Walk

I can't say enough how awesome Wyatt's KA class is. Last Friday Wyatt's class walked a few blocks, learned how to make dumplings from one of the local shops and then traipsed back to the school to make their own.  I naturally had to try them ( the kids washed their hands). Verdict? They were delicious.

     

Jump back with me through time.........

Ready to Par-Tay.

......To Wyatt's Birthday, the first week of December. Wyatt had two of the best birthday gifts ever arrive right on his doorstep. Gram and Papa with the Puppies came just in time to celebrate our "young man" turning five. It's so cliche to say that time flies and that they grow up so fast, but that's the thing about cliches. We say them all of the time because they're true. Duh.
My parents stayed for a week- and we had a great time. I mean, I had a great time, so I'm sure they did too. Right guys??
Being that this was Wyatt's first birthday where he was actually in a real classroom, I was in a bit of a quandary. Do I just invite a few? How am I supposed to pick these "few?" When I asked Wyatt, he rattled off the whole class. If I only invite a few, won't they talk about it on Monday, because his party is sure to be full of awesomeness?? Do you see where I'm going with this?? Wyatt's a pretty sociable guy and quite frankly,(much to my future dismay) is friends with all the kids in his class + more. Great for him but suckarrific for me. So I invited the whole class. Stupid.....but in the end it all worked out all right. Sorry if I just ruined this post for anyone. Feel free to stop reading if you were anticipating total disaster. All in all we had approx 12-14 kids at this Transformer-esque party. I didn't want to drop a lot of cash, so I was trying to be creative about where we could hold this party. I was thinking the park, but unfortunately Taiwan weather is bizarre and unpredictable, so I came up with the Science Center. When I called them the second time (an interesting story in itself) since I got hung up on the first time, I was told they had never done a birthday party before. O-KAY. SOOOOOO.............I was relentless. I told them I didn't need the whole room, I just wanted the kids in a confined area to play. Blah blah blah...*side note* The cool thing about the Science Center here is that the lower level is kid friendly and has a whole play room area of fun. Finally, it was all set up and we were good to go. My parents and hubby set up the second floor level like the rock stars they are (yeah we had to have all the kids hike up 3 levels.....don't ask), thankfully securing some obscure tables in a corner in the food court area---and we were golden. And to my delight,some of the kids parents stayed, otherwise I surely would have lost 1 or 2 kids; not to mention the fact that I was already in a state of nearly stroking out for 2 hours, being that I am not always the calm cool and collected chick that many of you think me to be..........so I get a little anxious.......Anyway....
Despite the mayhem in my head, it was all good. With the party having gone smoothly, we hit the Night Market in the evening (hence "night market"), assaulting Dad and Janie with a variety of indiscernible and probably what they would say, unpleasant aromas. But everyone has to do a Night Market at least once.....Wyatt secured a banging hat from a kiosk on the way out and we were ready to attack the week. Well, in a matter of speaking. We walked, we toured, we ate, we went to Wyatt's first soccer game of the season...we enjoyed one another's company and just chilled out. Wyatt was thrilled to have his grandparents here, as were Will and I that we had company. (and such FANTASTIC company at that.) It was an awesome week, and as I have said about family/friend visits before, it makes me miss home. Melancholy lasts for a while until I pick myself up by the proverbial bootstraps, drink an extra cup of coffee and call/skype  just a little more than I had before. Just for a bit....like the next year.

A week in review.......

Crazy fish at the Palace.

I could do that.........

Where to start???

Wyatt's Christmas bliss.

I have been utterly neglectful. I feel as if all of my posts within the past few months have begun this way. Falsely, (as I believe I have also reported on previous posts, it may appear as if I now have a life). (Hence no posts) Falsely appear I said. Falsely. I attribute it to laziness. Writer's block. Lack of time? ughh..probably not.  Again, it is what it is.

Kind of explains itself....

I'll talk about the parental visits in a bit (a bit being another post). Let's talk Christmas in Taiwan and our jet-setting to Hong Kong. I know right? Whose life is this?? When your kid can rattle off a handful of friends that have been to Hong Kong, you know you're not in Front Royal anymore. But let's back up. Christmas. Focus Aly. Focus.  Santa obviously visited The Wyatt in Taiwan, though his existence came into question multiple times. Kids grow up to fast. MY kid is growing up too fast...and with the sarcastic mouth of this mother, I'm envisioning not so merry teenage years. I digress. Christmas. THIS is me focusing. There was no shortage of disappointments in the Christmas department. We skyped/talked with family, we distributed gifts, we had a delicious meal with friends on Christmas Day, and I was pleasantly surprised when my husband came home having researched airfare and lodging

(booking both!) for a 3 night 4 day stay in HongKong! I mean, how fun!!!I   know right? Whose life is this?? (now I'm up to speed).
HongKong was very cool. (Read with me as I digress....)It's kind of weird, but I see things as objects sometimes, if that makes any kind of sense. Hong Kong is soooo built up, a lot of hustle and bustle, a lot of construction, and skyscrapers, a lot of people and movement. As the cab was bringing us to our hotel and I was looking at the city"scape" I envisioned (what I now know to be) hundreds of bristle blocks all over the place (see side picture).I know I'm weird, but it's what came to mind. SOOOOO you ask. What did you do? What did you see, what did you eat?????Everything!!!!

My hotness monster. 

No. Not really, but we tried to fit as much in as we could, which was just a fraction of what HK had to offer. I have to say, while there was a bunch of cool things to do with kids, there is a bunch of cool things we saw to do without kids..but that's for retirement life. Day 1 we were a bit tired. We left Taiwan by 4:30 am, were on a plane by 7:30 ish and in HK by a bit after 10. Awesome. We lunched, took a nap, then awoke, ready to conquer the city. Well, kind of.But none of you were there, so YES!!! WE AWOKE READY TO CONQUER THE CITY!!!!!! We walked the first day. The ladies market, which had a ton of purses, earrings, cell phone cases (laser pointers that burned through plastic) knock off sunglasses....just endless amounts of stuff. The bargaining was fun..pretend to walk away , all of a sudden the bid dropped. Tons of fun. How low can you go??? By nightfall we were still shopping and then finally decided to eat. Ignoring sensible reasoning we walked to the "hip" area of Hong Kong, Lan Kwai Fong, where I had read there were great bars/eateries etc. Really not a childproof area when it came right down to it, making us all the more stellar parents as we walked into a brew pub to stuff our faces at 9:00 PM. Quite tasty food though and the entertainment was....lively. In our defense it was less lively then the restaurants a bit further up the street. Second Day... HELLOOOO Disneyland. We took the MTR (not to be confused with the mrt) rail system directly to the park. We hit Toystoryland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland....some-other-lands....watched a couple of parades, delighted in our son dancing in the fake-snowfall, and ended our evening of bliss by watching some fireworks. Awesomeness. I have to say Wyatt was quite the trooper and maintained himself his little self well into the evenings so his parents could enjoy their three evenings in Hong Kong.
Our third day we found ourselves taking the double decker bus to Ocean Park. Though there weren't as many rides for Wyatt, the park was divided into two parts, so we took the Gondola to the other side which made for AMAZING views and saw the water show. We walked around a bit more, played some games, threw some money away on dumb stuff and then made our way into the aquarium which was ginormous. Will and Wyatt couldn't get enough. It was pretty cute to watch actually. Follow that up with a buffet dinner and shopping in the attached mall of our hotel while the boys chilled in the room? Well, you can color me happy. And then the trip was over as quickly as it began. I was thrilled to be able to see just another little piece of Asia. -Particularly an area that was so completely different from Taiwan. Taiwan just has a laid back, much slower paced feel as opposed to HK. Taking the cab ride home, I could see how someone moving from Hong Kong could have a difficult time adjusting. Me? I was just happy to come home.