Believe it or not, sometimes Isaac isn’t in the best of moods. He actually gets cranky, tired, annoyed, you name it. I know, it’s surprising because he’s usually a bad ass and rocks the great attitude.
But then the fun days come and for no apparent reason, he’s in a bad mood. He wakes up crying, or he slept poorly and is uber-tired 2 hours into the day. Or maybe he just doesn’t feel like being in a good mood. I don’t know exactly why, but I do know that in order for us both to make it through the day happy, something needs to be done.
When he was really young I used to just take him for a walk in his Snap & Go. I’d put him in that thing and BAM, he was out after a block or two and wake up refreshed. Or maybe I’d bust out the swing. That’d make him nice and happy and turn the whole day around. But, alas, times have changed and he’s WAY outgrown both of those options. Now I do things like take him outside or let him play with his cars. When those options don’t work, however, I bring out the big gun.
Let me tell you about the power of the bike trailer.
Let’s say that a random, I don’t know, last Friday, Isaac woke up in a cranky mood. He had breakfast, that didn’t cheer him up. He played with his cars, that wasn’t enough. So around 10:30 I busted out the bike trailer and went for a 45 minute ride. I loaded him down for the trip. The inside of his trailer usually includes a snack in a snack trap, his sippy, 3-4 cars, one of his toy guitars, a few books and anything else I can cram in that he’s been playing with that morning. This is, generally, enough to get him through our rides.
I rode and rode, praying that the ride would put him in a good mood. I’d peek back occasionally to make sure he wasn’t pulling his helmet off (our biggest problem when going for rides), and then keep going. Eventually he passed out. About 40 minutes into the ride he started making irritated noises so I figured I’d cut the ride short and not make him upset that he was still in the trailer.
We got back to the house, I pulled into the drive, parked the bike and got ready to get him out. I got off the bike, turned around and was greeted with this sight.
He had never, EVER slept through me parking the bike at the house before. That always woke him up. So I did what any smart parent does when their kid is sleeping (when they can at least). I let him sleep. After 15 minutes of me being bitten by mosquitoes and it getting close to lunch/nap time, I woke him up and got him inside.
His little cat nap did wonders for his mood, and I was grateful once again that, for some reason, naps in the bike trailer don’t ruin afternoon naps.
