As Alyssa walked along the sidewalk, pushing Baby Jocelyn in the stroller, she could hear the screams of her oldest child behind her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She entered the doors of Terminal 1 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and made sure not to turn around and look.
I sat there in the car with my distraught child behind me, wishing that we too were entering that terminal and preparing to board a flight. Baby Jadon loves to fly, and it crushed his little heart to see his mom and sister walk into the airport while we stayed in the car.
Of course, it didn’t make sense to him. Every time we go to the airport, he gets to get out with his car seat and go inside to get his boarding pass. He had flown on over 50 flights before his second birthday, and he already knows the whole process from the time we check our bags until we pick them up on the carousel at our destination.
But this was not one of those times, and there was nothing I could do to stop the tears from pouring down his cheeks as we drove away.
Thankfully, it was only a minute later when he stopped crying to point at the airplanes on the tarmac as we entered the highway once again. He gets excited to see airplanes on the ground and in the air even if he does not get to be a passenger on them.
But I decided that this would be a good time to have some father-son time together and to do something special for him while his mom and sister got the privilege of flying.
So we drove to Mall of America which is just on the opposite side of the interstate from the airport. We drove up to Level 5 in the parking garage, the level where we always park when we go to the mall.
Most of the stores in the mall were not open yet, and the little foot traffic that we found inside was mostly people who were there for the exercise. So we joined them and walked around a couple levels.
We walked around Nickelodeon Universe and stopped for a moment so he could watch the rides that went through their motions with nobody in them. We passed the thousands of Christmas lights that hang from the ceiling on the west side, always a favourite sight for Baby Jadon. We walked around the outside of the Lego store and looked at the many Lego sets on display.
We made sure to go up and down several escalators and one of the elevators because he always likes to do those.
At 10:00am, the stores finally opened, and we went straight to the Lindt store. Our family loves to go there because we like to look around at the many chocolates that they sell, and they often give free samples as well. Sure enough, they offered truffles to us, so we each took one as we continued to look around the store.
When we were finished there, we went up to the third level to Panera, and I got my free drink as a Sip Club member. While we waited for them to prepare my drink, we sat down at a table, and Baby Jadon proceeded to open his milk chocolate truffle. He took a bite and exclaimed, “Mmmmm!”
A smile spread across his face, the tears of one hour ago long gone. A moment later he popped the remainder of the candy in his mouth and pushed his wrapper across the table to me.
After he had finished his chocolate, he took mine and started to unwrap it. I did not mind because this little trip was about him, not about me, and I have had plenty of chocolate in my life. Once again he took a small bite out of it to start, but it was not long before the rest of the truffle was in his mouth while I sipped my hibiscus iced tea.
A few minutes later we got up and left the mall. We had a lot of things to do at home, and we both had a nice start to the day.
Together.
As our family grows and our kids grow up, we want them to learn that they can find joy and have fun in the little things. Yes, sometimes we also do the big things like going on weekend trips to see friends and family or to see things like the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. But most of the time, we major on the minors, like stopping at Mall of America to walk around and get a free chocolate sample.
We don’t have to go and buy ice cream or a Lego set or a die-cast car. We don’t have to ride any of the rides at Nickelodeon Universe. We can do small, simple things that cost us a little time but almost no money, and we can make memories that last a lifetime.
Baby Jadon probably won’t remember this trip, but we are laying a foundation for the rest of life. Together we will have a good time while saving money for more important things.
He didn’t get to fly on the airplane this time, but he still got to do something special.
What special things do you do with others that cost nothing or almost nothing?