Our weekend trip to She Shan
This past weekend we went with a group of friends and their children to a place called Sheshan National Resort Area. It was about an hour from downtown Shanghai (with decent traffic), or two hours (as we learned on the way home when the traffic was not so good). Sheshan is a great place to go with kids and dogs - dogs can run free, off the leash. Kids can also run free, off the leash (except for PW, who pretty much needs to be contained at all times - ha ha!). There is a great wading pool park, with 3-4 huge wading pools, fountains, a water fall, and plenty of places to play and splash. Overall, it was a great trip. The kids romped (see the pictures, coming soon) and our soon-to-be-dog (for two months), Jessica, had a great time splashing and chasing balls in the water. Nothing unique about the trip, in many ways - it could have been a trip to a park/waterpark in the States or anywhere else in the world...except for one little thing...
...our transportation there. We are really lucky because we are provided with a car (read: blue or silver - in our case blue - Buick minivan) and driver, Mr. Lu. The friends we traveled with do not have drivers. So we did the math and realized that if we removed the car seats and each adult held either a kid or a dog, we could fit all 6 adults, 5 kids and 1 dog into our van - thereby eliminating the need to spend 750 RMB (about $110) on taxi fares there and back. This is something I never thought I would be doing with my children. After all, in the States it's not only good common sense to always use a carseat for small children - it's the law. But in China, anything goes. If you're up for the risk, go for it. So we did.
The verdict? Well, aside from the comments from our neighbors regarding our similarity to a clown car (they watched as all twelve people - including Mr. Lu - and a dog unfolded themselves from our van upon our return), it wasn't all bad. It makes for a good story (because we didn't crash and die). But, in some ways I think the real value of carseats lies in the sanity they provide parents - not just the safety they provide kids. When your kids are able to move around the vehicle while it's moving, it can be nerve-wracking - and sometimes it just gets on your nerves. Most kids adjust to car seats fairly well. They can't move, they realize they can't move, and there is no way around it. So they sit still and play with the toys you provide, listen to the music playing, look out the windows, etc. When they realize they are not strapped down and they can move about - look out! They do (well, at least our kids do. The other three kids were pretty good...although the youngest is only 3 months old, so he probably isn't a fair comparison point). They opened windows, they pressed buttons, they turned on the reading lights, turned off the air conditioning, turned on the hazards, etc. By the time we returned home, I was ready for them to be back in the carseat - just to prevent the risk of death by strangulation by Mommy.
But beyond the van-turned-into-mobile-amusement-park issues, we had one other humorous event on our trip. Our friends Kate and Keith, Jessica-the-dog's "parents" brought along a small (6" diameter), red doggie dish for water and food. For some reason it was not in the bag on the way home, and MJ started using it as a "steering wheel", so that he could drive the car with Mr. Lu. Now, I know we've all said this before about boxes, bubble wrap, styrofoam packing peanuts and the like, but who needs toys when you can play with a dog dish??? So for at least 30 minutes of our two-hour drive home, MJ and the second oldest child in the group, E, fought over who got to use the dog dish as a steering wheel. Lovely.
And it gets even lovelier. You see, at one point MJ stuck his face into the dog dish and licked it (why I am admitting this, I'm not sure). Kate told him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, because Jessica sometimes eats poo. Then she licks her dog bowl, so there might be traces of poo on that bowl." Not to be deterred by dog feces, MJ replied, in a serious voice, "But I like eating traces of poo!" Eeeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!!! And later that mouth would kiss me goodnight. The things they say and do. Sometimes you laugh (I have to admit, we all laughed at that comment, even if we were simultaneously grossed out by it), sometimes you cry, but there's never a dull moment!
So that was our weekend trip. There are so many places to see in China that are full of historical and cultural significance. Sheshan is home to the largest cathedral in China, but we didn't get to see it. Hopefully we will the next time we go up. The thing that fascinates me, though, is that although we get to see all these places, often times it's what the kids do (or don't do) that makes the trip memorable. That would be the same at home, or anyplace we might live. And maybe that's the lesson here - that no matter how (seemingly) different the places you go, the things that matter are the same.
...our transportation there. We are really lucky because we are provided with a car (read: blue or silver - in our case blue - Buick minivan) and driver, Mr. Lu. The friends we traveled with do not have drivers. So we did the math and realized that if we removed the car seats and each adult held either a kid or a dog, we could fit all 6 adults, 5 kids and 1 dog into our van - thereby eliminating the need to spend 750 RMB (about $110) on taxi fares there and back. This is something I never thought I would be doing with my children. After all, in the States it's not only good common sense to always use a carseat for small children - it's the law. But in China, anything goes. If you're up for the risk, go for it. So we did.
The verdict? Well, aside from the comments from our neighbors regarding our similarity to a clown car (they watched as all twelve people - including Mr. Lu - and a dog unfolded themselves from our van upon our return), it wasn't all bad. It makes for a good story (because we didn't crash and die). But, in some ways I think the real value of carseats lies in the sanity they provide parents - not just the safety they provide kids. When your kids are able to move around the vehicle while it's moving, it can be nerve-wracking - and sometimes it just gets on your nerves. Most kids adjust to car seats fairly well. They can't move, they realize they can't move, and there is no way around it. So they sit still and play with the toys you provide, listen to the music playing, look out the windows, etc. When they realize they are not strapped down and they can move about - look out! They do (well, at least our kids do. The other three kids were pretty good...although the youngest is only 3 months old, so he probably isn't a fair comparison point). They opened windows, they pressed buttons, they turned on the reading lights, turned off the air conditioning, turned on the hazards, etc. By the time we returned home, I was ready for them to be back in the carseat - just to prevent the risk of death by strangulation by Mommy.
But beyond the van-turned-into-mobile-amusement-park issues, we had one other humorous event on our trip. Our friends Kate and Keith, Jessica-the-dog's "parents" brought along a small (6" diameter), red doggie dish for water and food. For some reason it was not in the bag on the way home, and MJ started using it as a "steering wheel", so that he could drive the car with Mr. Lu. Now, I know we've all said this before about boxes, bubble wrap, styrofoam packing peanuts and the like, but who needs toys when you can play with a dog dish??? So for at least 30 minutes of our two-hour drive home, MJ and the second oldest child in the group, E, fought over who got to use the dog dish as a steering wheel. Lovely.
And it gets even lovelier. You see, at one point MJ stuck his face into the dog dish and licked it (why I am admitting this, I'm not sure). Kate told him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, because Jessica sometimes eats poo. Then she licks her dog bowl, so there might be traces of poo on that bowl." Not to be deterred by dog feces, MJ replied, in a serious voice, "But I like eating traces of poo!" Eeeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!!! And later that mouth would kiss me goodnight. The things they say and do. Sometimes you laugh (I have to admit, we all laughed at that comment, even if we were simultaneously grossed out by it), sometimes you cry, but there's never a dull moment!
So that was our weekend trip. There are so many places to see in China that are full of historical and cultural significance. Sheshan is home to the largest cathedral in China, but we didn't get to see it. Hopefully we will the next time we go up. The thing that fascinates me, though, is that although we get to see all these places, often times it's what the kids do (or don't do) that makes the trip memorable. That would be the same at home, or anyplace we might live. And maybe that's the lesson here - that no matter how (seemingly) different the places you go, the things that matter are the same.
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