Byron and his antics...

Yesterday was a big day for Byron and I – so big that I am only writing about it today.

We had a play date with a little girlfriend of his who we hadn’t seen in quite a while in the morning, followed by my appointment at the hospital (which included a bus trip just for Byron) and finally a haircut to top it all of.

Let me start with the play date...we had decided to meet at a shopping centre which has a lovely indoor playground for littlies. There is a coffee shop just near there plus a Wendys (for milkshake purposes – I promised he could have one), so in all, a perfect location for a play date; except it was a shopping centre.

The thing I have noticed about Byron and shopping centres of late is that he is drawn to those electronic rides/merry go rounds that require you to put $2 in before they do anything. He can’t walk past one without wanting to hop in. Not to mention, that he has now begun to ask me for money to put in them as well (sitting in them is not enough anymore!). I had never really noticed exactly how many of them were around until the other day.

During our stroll through the shopping centre (as part of our play date) we must have walked past 6 of them in a short span of time; each one requiring Byron’s (and his little girlfriend’s) attention. Ok, I can handle one stop here and there, but really, who can handle a stop every 50 metres (because that is where they were spaced). Yes, they provide a little rest stop for parents who might so dearly need it, but they also require you (as the parent) to hand over hard earned cash for what – a 30 sec jolt. I am pretty good and very rarely hand over money to put in those rides, but that doesn’t stop him from asking (or should I say nagging incessantly). Grrr to those ride people, whose plan it is to make every parent succumb to relentless harassment by pre-schoolers!!!!

After our play date we headed to another shopping centre where we were going to catch a bus to the hospital. Byron gets so excited when he sees buses and remembers his last trip on the bus (back at my 28 week check-up).

Before venturing onto the bus I needed to make one stop at Toys R Us to pick something up. There I was at the checkout paying for the item when I looked around and Byron was gone. I called out his name a few times when I finally received a response. I asked where he was (because I couldn’t see him). He responded with "I’m over here mummy at the Freddos" (about 4 meters around the corner out of my eyesight). Before, I could comprehend what he said; he was back at the checkouts with a Freddo in toe ready and waiting to pay the lady (with my $$$ I suppose). In a state of shock, I was left with no alternative (ok there were alternatives but none which I was willing to take) but to purchase the Freddo.

As expected Byron thoroughly enjoyed the bus trip (and the freddo)...the highlight of course being the ringing of the bell!

Our last trip of the day was to the barbers. Byron’s hair was getting so long that it was now in his eyes. I thought, seeing as it was a Monday there wouldn’t be a wait. How wrong was I. There were 3 people in front of us waiting to get their hair cut. Soon enough though (well it could have been sooner), it was his turn. Whilst he was getting his hair cut, he pointed to 3 objects on the table. The hairdresser responded by telling him they were clippers (or parts that connected to clippers). His response was, "When I be a girl I can use those". Huh!! I responded with, "What do you mean". He said, "When I be a girl I can put the clips in my hair"...How sweet - he got confused with clips that girls put in their hair.

I can tell you that when I got home from my day out with Byron, I was exhausted. Needless to say, I won’t be venturing to close to a shopping centre (with him) any time soon – well not for a few days anyway!