Lego Expo Fails and Mall Wins (My Women’s March)
LEGO EXPO. Such promise in that phrase. The parallel syllables. The rhyme. The punch at the end of each word. You can almost see it as a graphic on the big screen before a Vegas Prime Time match. “Lego” slams into “Expo” with an explosion of fists and fireworks. Ladies and gentlemen are you ready!
I talked it up big time Saturday morning as we sat on the floor of the living room eating cinnamon rolls in our pajamas and watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. We were going to get out of the house and HAVE FUN (or else). That’s my goal for most mornings, but Saturdays feel special, like stolen time. They also feel about a thousand times longer. When I saw that the Lego Expo was coming to town, I was on it. I had marked “Going” long ago on Facebook. We wanted to get there early (or at least early for us) to maximize the experience before nap meltdowns. There were exhibits and building rooms and mini golf and concessions and demonstrations, all things Lego. Here’s how much we cared: Jody and I skipped showers. Saturday morning is my hair washing day. I push it until I’m teetering on the edge of homelessness, until even the dry shampoo sighs at me and shakes its head. To postpone was a risk, a risk I undertook willingly for the welfare of my children.
Error #1: We pulled into the wrong parking lot. There was no handicap parking and it was about a mile away from the entrance. The wheelchair and the toddlers do not do well long distance.
Error #2: Despite our best efforts we still got there an hour after they opened, which leads to…
Error #3: We completely underestimated the Lego love. Apparently this was bigger than trick or treating, than Santa, than Avengers, than Frozen. This was everything and all the kids in town knew it. Jody and I peered at the line that stretched from the entrance half a mile away down the street and into the road like disoriented explorers.
Error #4: Of course I had talked it up big all morning. “There will be rooms and rooms filled with Legos!” To which the twins shouted, “hooray!” “Lego Batman and Superman will be there!” To which the twins shouted, “hooray!” “There will be hot dogs!” To which Cora threw herself on the ground because the joy was just too much.
Jody and I conferred like spies in the front of the van before cranking up the Elmo DVD and slowly but surely making a u-turn. The Lego Expo was clearly telling us “no, go back, to not bring your 3 children under 5 past this point.”
So we went to the mall and we poured dollar bills into the videogame racecars until Charlie stopped signing “more.”. And we paid $5 to check out a pink car stroller that Cora “drove” while Jonas sat in the basket and navigated. And we ate Chick-Fil-a and ice cream and pretzels from Auntie Anne’s (because we can’t go to the mall without eating everything).
I think we spent enough to make a down payment on this race car. Worth it for that face.
And nobody cared that we missed the expo. Even me. Because behind it all my biggest agenda for today was to spend this Saturday as a family. I wanted to mark this day, when women all over the country marched, as one for us too. I wanted to celebrate and stand up for the family we have created and the hope my three little people are bringing into this world. I may not have smelled great and the fast food didn’t help, but we changed our plans, the one’s we’d had our hearts set on, and we made a new happiness. There’s a metaphor in that if you want to go there, but for now, I’ll let it rest.
Our moveable feast at the mall.
Thanks again, Meg, for letting me review the wins.
