I’m linking up today with Crystal Stine’s Behind The Scenes. It is a chance to share the real life behind the pretty picture. It is so easy to give an air of perfection via social media. Crystal encourages to share the real behind the photo. And I love her for it.

When we left home and headed downtown I knew it was late. But I was almost sure we had enough time to catch the last merry go round ride of the day and hit the tax collector’s office at Town Hall (stupid excise tax) before they closed.

Malone was thrilled to be going to Town Hall- I can easily see why. Our Town Hall is in a historic building complete with crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and turn of the century murals. Going inside is a treat for the eyes, even for a four year old.

I didn’t tell him that we could go the the merry go round to catch the last ride until we pulled up. Both places are on the same block, along with our visitor’s center and children’s museum, but I wasn’t sure I’d score a decent enough parking spot to actually make it to the merry go round in time.

We made it and he declared the day to be his favorite day ever. Malone wasn’t quite tall enough to ride alone, so I closed my eyes and prayed I wouldn’t lose my lunch. That merry go round is the fastest I’ve ever been on.

When the ride was finished the attendant told us there was free popcorn on the benches. They had bagged them up ahead of time so the machine could be cleared. Malone was thrilled. He adores popcorn and knows the value of the word “free.” However, things quickly turned sour. Ahead of us there was a grandmother, her tweenage granddaughters, and three bags of popcorn. She looked me right in the eye before distributing the three bags- one for each of the kids in her party. We were left with none and I was left with a really disappointed four year old.

At first, I was really really angry at the woman. She knew we were right behind them and it was a TOTAL jerk move. But as we walked towards the Town Hall to complete our errand, Malone and I had a chance to have a conversation about how sometimes life really isn’t fair. It was neat to see him think through the injustice of the entire situation. I was proud of him for declaring that she should have taken two bags to share with her three friends and left one bag for us.

And I walked away from the day feeling like super mom.

crystalstine.me