My friend Margaret and I had talked about doing something that morning. We first talked about hitting up some yard sales, but I decided we have enough stuff around this house. I didn't need to more clutter.
Margaret is pretty outdoorsy, so I came up with the idea of going boating. We have three reservoirs in town, and all three rent boats. Margaret was game, so we went to the one that has canoes.
I talked it up for 2 days to Sawyer ... how much fun it would be, how we might see some ducks or turtles and how we'd have to sit V E R Y still and not stand up.
Occasionally, I'd ask Sawyer how we had to sit in the boat and he'd say, "Very carefully." (A word I'd never heard him say before.)
That morning, Sawyer woke up really early. By the time we were headed to the lake, he was yawning and blinking hard. He fell asleep about five minutes from our house. I knew this was not a good sign.
While Sawyer slept, Margaret and I signed up and paid for the boat.
When I woke him up, he was not happy. He was very clingy and did NOT want to go in the boat. He did NOT want to wear his life jacket. He did NOT want to see any ducks. I was very afraid we weren't even going to make it on the water.
But I finally convinced him. We got in the canoe, and the young guy working there pushed us off. I'm sure he thought we were crazy.
Sawyer was OK at first. But he wanted to stand up between my legs, which made it practically impossible for me to paddle well. With Margaret being the only one paddling much, we were just going in circles.
I finally got him to sit down for awhile, but I felt bad for him. He probably couldn't see much over the sides of the boat, and wearing a life jacket is no fun for anyone. He kept wanting to stand up, so I kept having to tell him NO!
It took what seemed like forever to paddle across the lake to a park that runs through it. There's a footbridge we paddled under and we sat and watched some people bike over it.
Sawyer never really warmed up to the adventure. I tried to help him sit up in the middle so he could see out, but he kept wanting to lean on the side of the boat, which made us too wobbly for my taste.
When I had to tell him to sit down or force him, Sawyer wailed, breaking the silence of the quiet lake. I told Margaret we had the only canoe equipped with a siren. Waaaahhhhh. Waaaaaahhhh. Waaaaaahhh. He didn't wanna be in a boat, or so he said.
We tried to distract him with blue herons and planes flying overhead, but none of it was working. So we decided not to press our luck, and we headed back after about an hour on the water. I was just happy to get back to the marina dry. My biggest fear was that Sawyer would pitch a big fit and flip us.
And just because he has to use up every last ounce of my patience some days ... When we got the canoe back on dry land, he didn't want to get out. And he pouted over leaving the boat.
Thankfully, Margaret was a good sport. And I am well aware that you just can't win with a 2-year-old.
Finally happy again.
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