Knights and Pirates

To my son Tommy,

Today's adventure was brought to you by the letter (said in your best pirate voice) "AARRGHH".  In case you hadn't guessed, we hit the Renaissance Festival in Crownsville on the pirate weekend.  We saw all kinds of medieval things and you were quite in awe.  For some reason you kept thinking we were on a farm.  Most likely this misconception was because straw and hay were strewed all over the grounds to suck up some of the mud caused by yesterday's down pour.  I gave up trying to explain that this was neither a farm nor a zoo after we saw the ponies and the horses and the elephant and the camel.  It seemed my argument would hold no water with a 3 year old's perception after seeing all those things.

We owe many thanks to your uncles Raymond and Hyun who called Friday to invite us.  They invited the whole family but you, me, and your cousin Emma were the only takers.  You also owe them a big hug because they paid for our ticket and many of the drinks and food and games.  Plus you dragged your uncles and cousin around the festival grounds doing what you wanted.  I am your father, so I had to head where you were focused but you are so blessed to have such loving and fun uncles to keep up with you as well.

You did well for about four hours.  You had fun on the slide and in the maze and the pony ride and the kids area had a nice pirate ship with slides and swings.  You waited patiently as us older kids got our food and walked from place to place.  You were in awe meeting the knights, and loved seeing the horses and I thought you could have stared at the elephant for hours on end.  One clown/fool/puppeteer dressed in a horse costume did give you bit of a fright but even after that you still remembered your manners and said a proper farewell.  You even sat enjoying some culture and comedy in some stage acts like the Renaissance Man's Stand Up Tragedy or some of Shakespeare Scum.

But as we approached the fifth hour, you were getting tired and a little bit more difficult to handle.  You wanted to run through the crowds at the Globe Theater and you had a bit of a meltdown when I put an end to that.  It was my fault as I saw signs of you getting worn out and cranky and overwhelmed and overloaded in the previous hour but I kept pushing and holding out hope.

And that is today's life lesson.  Don't push it when you see the signs and the outcome becomes inevitable.  Leave at a high not pushing it to the limits of a meltdown.  Give it one big "HUZZAH!" and be satisfied with time and experiences you got to enjoy.

Sincerely with love from your dad,
Leo