I’ve been thinking about perspective and how, as a parent,
that changes over the years. What in the moment can feel like disaster, can in the end turn out to be great. To illustrate the point I thought I would share
one of the Morgan Family’s legendary stories. And because we are Morgans the
story involves…wait for it…Disneyland.
Since
Jordan was a baby we have made the annual trek to the Happiest Place On
Earth. (It was a whole lot less
expensive back in the day). As the
family grew so did our costs, but we felt it worthwhile so every summer we’d
pack matching t-shirts, a gallon of sunscreen and enough fruit snacks to stock
a daycare for a year and off we would go. Now, I’m not going to lie and tell you that taking six kids to
Disneyland is a picnic. Because it’s
not. But, since we went annually the
kids were generally pretty easy, and we often got stopped and complimented on how well
behaved they were.
Until the infamous “Blue Ribbon Bakery Incident”.
Now, to get the full sense of the situation a little background
information is necessary. First of all, we were on day 3 of Disney, it was
August and about 90 degrees. Second, Kennedy was an infant cutting her first
tooth and I had become the human pacifier—in 90 degree heat. Finally, it was
way past lunch time and we had 5 starving kids and a super needy infant. To
satisfy everyone’s meal preferences we had to divide and conquer. Dave headed down Main Street to buy corn dogs
for half the kids while I got everyone situated at a table inside the Blue
Ribbon Bakery. The bakery is divided into two shops that are connected—one side
is the actual bakery while the other holds an ice cream parlor. Dave’s brother was with us at the time and
decided he wanted ice cream so he got in that line, which was in clear view of
the table the five kids were seated at. Meanwhile, I took the baby and went around the corner to get in line at
the bakery.
The lines were long…
As I’m finally getting my order I hear a huge commotion from
the other room and I am mortified to realize that it sounds exactly like 5
Morgan kids in various states of distress. I grab my food and the baby and practically run to the adjoining ice
cream shop where I see…three Morgan boys crying and two Morgan boys in a knock
down drag out fight IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BAKERY!!! Luckily, about this time, Dave comes in
brandishing corn dogs and between the two of us we get the two boys apart, dry
the tears of the other three boys (it’s amazing what a corn dog and soda will
do) and of course, I’m back to being the human pacifier. (It should be noted that Uncle Mike was STILL
in line watching this whole fiasco go down and when asked why he didn’t break
up the fight he said—and I quote—“I didn’t want to lose my place in line.")
That night after we returned to the hotel and discussed the
Morgan Family Debacle, we gathered some paper and had the boys attempt to atone for their deeds. And thus the
famous apology note was penned:
Dear Blue Ribbon Bakery,
I’m sorry I got in a fight in the middle of your
bakery. Can you ever forgive me?
Sincerely,
Jordan Morgan
Needless to say, this “adventure” has become a part of our
family folklore and it made me think today about perspective. You see, when I was in the middle of this
situation I was embarrassed, angry, and disappointed. I mean, an hour before we were just stopped
by a random stranger to say how impressed she was at our well behaved children,
and now we were the subject of sideways looks and eye rolls. But now, we LOVE that story! Every time we return to Disneyland and stroll
past the bakery for the first time, we say, “Remember when…?” And then we all have a good laugh. (I actually never mailed that letter—I
thought it was just too priceless.)
(Here they are--matching shirts and all. Sadly, Kennedy was where she was for 90% of the trip--attached to me...)
