Family time

This morning Daryl and I wandered down to Souleio for an iced beverage (I had the strawberry & basil iced tea, yum) and a pastry. While we waited for our order, we sat outside on the bistro chairs (reminiscent of France) and watched the comings and goings of the people around us.

One family in particular grabbed my attention. A white mini van with Alberta plates parked across the street and a young couple emerged from it. The side doors were opened and closed many times, the trunk was opened and they brought out a Chariot. The Tulle roof rack was opened and more pieces to the puzzle were added. The presumed "mom", I only say this because at this point there was no other evidence of kids besides the look of a post pregnancy tummy on her slender body & the Chariot, grabbed her suitcase and a change of clothes, then she disappears. The man keeps circling the van opening and closing doors, the whole while, Daryl and I are wondering what they are up to. After 5 minutes or so, dad pulls out a little girl about 18 months old. He walks around the van with her a couple of times and then puts her back in the van. I think this is strange, because it would appear that they are getting ready to go out for a walk. After another 5 minutes, mom appears again with a new outfit on. By this time I am thinking that they are ready for their walk. Nope. Doors open and close again and baby is changed. A time later, another kid emerges, approx 7 years old. OK, now their ready to go. Nope. I then see in the reflection of a store window a smaller version of the 7 year old emerge from the van. Now we have 3 cute brown haired girls, but that's not all. I see the smaller one check out herself in the reflective window, do a little twirl and then start pushing the Chariot. No surprise really, there is one more little girl sitting in the Chariot. This family spent nearly 30 minutes getting ready for their little walk. I felt exhausted for them. I wonder what brought them into town and where their little adventure was going to take them.

Kudos to my friends and family that have children. I no longer have to wonder why it takes them so long to get ready or why they are late arriving for events.

Perhaps the family could have used something like this.