A Metro Ride in the Buff

One of the hardest lessons motherhood has taught me is that there is no such thing as a plan. As one who LOVES plans, this has been an ongoing challenge. Because the minute you plan for something, circumstances will no doubt change, rendering your original plan useless. With Finn, this is a lesson I learn and relearn every single day. Because there is no planning for what this child will do . . . he flies by the seat of his pants more often than not, taking me along for the ride. I have to admit that there is some freedom in Finn's way of thinking. Just go with it, and we usually do. Which brings me to this morning's adventure.

We started the morning at a children's concert at a fun bakery in a new part of town. We ended the morning with naked baby going the wrong direction on the metro. After leaving the concert, we walked by this fun little splash fountain which was just calling Finn's name. Normally I could care less if Finn gets wet or dirty because we are usually a quick walk or drive from home. I told him that he could "put his hands in but that was all because we had to ride the metro home." (Plan A). Plan F (for Finn) was to make a beeline for the fountain and just lay on top of the water spout and then roll around on the ground, which he did. I figured the damage was done so I let him have his fun and then when it was time to go home, I stripped him down, put on a dry diaper and headed to the metro. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone, just in case they chastised me for taking a naked child for a metro ride. I would have agreed with them and then handed them his soaking wet clothes and shoes. Adding insult to injury, I wasn't paying attention and we got on the wrong train, putting us an extra 6 stops out of our way, which seems like an eternity when your child is riding in the buff.

My friend Summer and her little boy were with us so that distracted me somewhat from the embarrassing fact that my naked little boy was riding the subway for all to see. When we got close to home, Finn insisted on walking, still wearing only a diaper. We ran into Mark who had run home to get a quick bite to eat. He just looked at us and then said, "why isn't he wearing any clothes?" And Finn explained, "I went swimming."