The Way the Crow Flies

In my endless desire to keep busy and expose Sam to everything Portland has to offer, our days are filled with trips to the museum,dance classes, playdates and excursions to the Oregon Zoo. Sam is at that age where he enjoys the outings but he really doesn't understand much of what is going around him. Our latest endeavor, dance class, is a perfect example.

We enter our first day of dance class and most of the other kids are 2-3 years old. A bit older than Sam and worlds different on the development scale. Oh well, I thought. I like to dance, so if anything, I'll shake my booty, laugh a little and generally have a fun time. The dance instructor (let's call her Jane) is like a kindergarten teacher on crack. She's flying through the air, beckoning the kids to join her in a rousing rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle. I couldn't help but laugh and think, "if only my friends could see me know." Most of the kids followed instructions well, sat in a circle and mimicked her dance movements. Sam, on the other hand, went straight to the door and started banging on it feverishly, as if to say "get me out of here- ASAP!" I quickly snatched him up and tried to coerce him into joining the group. By this time it was "open dance" where the parents and the kids move around the room, shaking their groove things. So, I put Sam down on the ground, start dancing and again - straight to the door. At this point, I had two options 1) Quit, and give into Sam's demands or 2)start dancing. Guess which one I agreed to? Dance, dance, revolution! I joined the others and danced around the room, while Sam just stood and stared at me in horror.

Following "open dance" it was time for the kids to dance their way through an obstacle course of cones, scarfs and rolled up rugs. Sam, all of a sudden showed interest. Victory! He came over, looked at the course and immediately went straight for the bright orange cone. Instead of completing the obstacle course, he merely went around and picked up all the orange cones. I am going to call this a success.

Today, Sam and I went to the zoo. All morning I explained to Sam the different animals we were going to see, the noises they make and descriptions of the different habitat. After a tour through the monkeys, giraffes, penguins and bears, do you know what Sam's favorite exhibit was? A crow. One, single crow that was perched in a large field used for picnics. Sam spotted the crow, starting pointing madly and took off after the bird. He chased it around and watched sadly as it flew away to some other park strewn with cheez-its and graham crackers.