In our days as a childless couple, we used to naively dream about how we would parent our future children. We would see parents with their children on a leash and scoff at them, whispering to each other “Why can’t they control their children?” when we were feeling charitable and “How can they treat their children like dogs?” when we weren’t.
This was all pre-Sam. Now when we go out to places like Deanna Rose, Sam looks like this:
His leash is a monkey backpack with a long tail that we can hold onto as he races ahead of us. Sam loves his monkey; it rides with him in the carseat when we’re going to the park, and if he sees it as we’re leaving the house and we are accidentally leaving it behind, he asks for it to go. This plush little toy is the best invention ever if you have a child who has to go full throttle at all times and can’t be bothered to hold hands with Mama or Dada because they are way too slow. And for us it serves as a great reminder of the one central truth of parenting – never say never. If you do, you’ll eat your words many times over and be the one wearing the monkey on your back.
8 comments:
I love the monkey leash/backpack. I only wish I had one when your brother was that age. It would have saved my sanity many times over.
May
Ha, ha, I must say you deserve that. :D Michael had a leash when he was a kid--after he was lost in the mall for 2 hours one time! We have a harness for Jamie as well, although it's not as cute as the monkey. We mainly bought it for use in airports, especially if I happen to be traveling by myself with him, lugging a car seat, carry-ons, etc. But if it makes you feel any better, I actually had a grandmotherly lady come up to me and tell me what a good mommy I was for having it! Usually the only judges are those without children or at least freakishly "perfect" ones. (As if there IS such a thing!)
I just bought the same exact Monkey for Nate!
Yeah, we've quickly discovered that as a parent, you do what you need to do to keep your sanity and your kids safe. And we heard while at Deanna Rose a 6 or 7 year old pull on her mom's arm and whisper about Sam's leash. Her mom leaned down and said, "that's so his mom can keep up with him...you had one when you were little."
Where oh WHERE can I get two of these monkeys? There was that one Simpsons' episode where an inventor had a machine that read baby thoughts. When a kid on a leash walked by, the machine said: "This is demeaning for both of us." :) That writer obviously hadn't been responsible for someone as inquisitive as Sam! Seriously, where did you get this monkey?
Walmart, if you can believe it. However, Amazon of course has them, and I would bet Target does, too.
Ours is made by Goldbug. Here's a link to ours: http://www.travelingwithkids.com/product_info.php/pName/two-in-one-harness-buddy
and they have the panda and the horse and the cow, etc. Sam picked the monkey, so there we are.
Zachary has a puppy dog one courtesy of Target. He caught the eye of many a passerby in Venice as he chased the pigeons in St. Mark's Square and Tad chased him last summer. :)
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