It’s the downfall of every parent.
You have your plan …the snacks, a good attitude, and the sunscreen. You think you’re set. Until … the lines.
Duuuuuude.
You’re there to celebrate …birthdays, anniversaries, milestones, vacations. All that.
And you thought you’d hit a couple of snags here and there, but when this happens and ugh … you just feel that vein in your forehead ready pop during your George Costanza moment.
Now mind you, I was prepared for it. I even prepared my kids for it, so when we encountered a 55 minute wait at the Radiator Springs Attraction at Disney’s California Adventure I was totally on top of it. I knew there would be a battle for the spot in front of the chain, for the one next to the rails so that climbing would be possible, for the spot in the shade, for the spot in the sun, for the spot in front of me, for the spot next to the wall, for the spot with of view of the attraction.
I knew there would be a lack of patience running rampant throughout the park and with the heat in the 90s I prepared. I did. I had all the snacks and the positive vibe going on, but nothing can really suck the air out of your balloon like long lines and tired kids.
And I witnessed this happening in multiple languages throughout the park, but the one Dad rubbing his head and having a George-Costanza-Serenity-Now! moment … he seemed to be having the toughest day yet.
The amount of pressure used to rub his forehead was the first clue and his 14-year-old son was the second. Had the cause and effect right in front of me.
I could totally see this happening and I nodded my head like … yeah I know, I know.
But luckily for me I never got to that point that day. I was able to salvage some moments that could have really turned gruesome in that heat.
Thanks for the deep breathing and peaceful talks Deepak Chopra OnDemand.
But aside from this meditation guru helping me find the Zen, two complete strangers helped keep things in the right frame of mind.
We met these two lovely ladies that just happened to get in line with us. They saw the birthday buttons on my kids and began conversation. It was regular stranger-nice-day-good-luck conversation. But when we got on the rapids ride laughter ensued with all of us and all the waiting in line from the morning faded as we enjoyed moments of unexpectedness and fun on that raft.
These ladies had such a good vibe, and were totally digging our laughter fest, that everyone on that raft gelled.
The rest of the day followed the same pattern and I was glad to have met those two ladies. The universe had put us on the FastPass tip and we bumped into them, helping to improve the rest of our day. It’s really too bad that the father of the teenage boy hadn’t met them earlier as well. Things might have turned out differently for him. Never know.
So while reflecting about the day’s events, I remembered those two ladies and hoped that the universe had paid them back for crossing our path. Conversations with strangers are something I don’t do often, especially when I’m with my kids. Sometimes things get weird, like that time at Michael’s Craft Store when this guy swore I was a spy and was upset because he thought I had overheard his conversation with headquarters and knew I had told “her” to do “it.” I didn’t know who “it” or “her” were, I almost had to call security.
But this time … this time the conversation changed the current of our flow. Their kindness and vibe was a good thing that day and I was grateful.
The Wish Factor 