Our Craziest NYC Adventure Yet

Wednesday night we attended the Pampers Cruisers 3-Way-Fit launch as ambassadors from New York Mom's World.  I thought nothing of bringing the boys into the city by myself because we do it all the time during the day.  Why should this night be any different?  I packed well, and had everything planned out down to mapping the subway stations and packing PJs to change into on the train ride home so they could fall asleep and I could leave them with Hubby to go get my hair cut.

The best laid plans....


We got into the city with no problems.  I had O in the snap 'n go because I knew it would be the easiest for him to sleep in on the way home & it's our smallest/easiest to handle stroller.  JD sat next to me on the train, held my hand as we made it to the subway, and only had a minor breakdown when he decided he wanted to nap on the floor of the very crowded 1 train.

JD would have been happy hanging in the subway listening to these guys all night.

The party, held at Dylan's Candy Bar, was awesome, except for the confusing lack of candy.  We left with plenty of time to make it to our train home.  

There were toys, face painting, Christina Milian, and dancing to the Little Maestros 

And then it all fell apart.


We walked outside into a downpour.  I didn't feel like running to the subway station with a stroller & tired toddler in the rain, so I stepped to the curb to hail a cab.  I'm the only person who thought getting a cab when it's raining is a good idea. haha.

"I wet, mommy!"  Once we finally got in a cab, he wanted to get out for "more wet!"
PS- I apologize that this is the last picture.  I didn't give fun blog posts filled with pics a second thought after this!

Finally a driver stopped, told me his meter was broken, but he has two small kids, and he couldn't leave me standing there with mine.  


We were about 30 blocks from Penn Station, but traffic wasn't moving. Not even an inch (dumb United Nations).  He advised that it would take FOREVER to get into midtown, so I was better off having him drive me to Queens to catch the train from there.  I didn't want to be stuck in that cab all night with a cranky toddler and a now hungry, screeching infant.  So we drove to Queens.


At the station, we had 10 minutes to catch our train home. We were pointed in the right direction and got to the platform before the train.  A few minutes before our train was scheduled to leave, a train pulls in.  It is PACKED. I worried for a second about having to hold JD for over an hour (he was EXHAUSTED), but someone graciously gave me their seat so I could sit JD on my lap and pull the stroller up next to me.  Can you guess what happens next? 


I realize we were on the wrong train!!  Our train was behind us.


I am texting Hubby super crazy, urgent texts about being on the wrong train.  Can he leave work to pick us up? What station should we get off at?  


No answer.


I Thank God for the maps on my Droid, get off at the station that I figure is closest to where he is, and he finally calls.  I curtly explain where we are, and he says he will be there in 20 minutes.  I take advantage of the empty train platform, lay the kids down on the changing pad for diaper & clothing changes, sing "C Is For Cookie" a billion times, clean them up with wipes, and nurse O.  


I still don't want to miss my hair appointment, and every minute counts, so I bounced the stroller down the stairs and walked to the corner to wait.  When he pulled up, I asked why he didn't answer my texts.  


"What exactly did those texts say? All I got was a text from the life insurance guy telling me to call my wife."


crap


We go to get my car, and I am only 12 minutes late for my hair appointment.  I was so ridiculously thirsty, and with no time to stop, I drank what was left in the boys' sippy cups, and I walked in to the hairdresser barefoot because the blisters from the fancy shoes I definitely shouldn't have worn were unbearable.  And by "fancy" I mean not flip flops.


Lesson learned:
No matter what anybody says, New Yorkers are extremely helpful and friendly.  I do not have nice enough words to thank the people who helped us that night.

• The cab driver who kept me from freaking out by telling me about his kids, held JD in his arms at the station in Queens while I clipped O into the stroller, and (since his meter was broken and he told me to only pay what I wanted to) didn't even look at how much money I put in his hand before he drove away.
• Intimidating looking man on the 1 train who gave me his seat and then answered all of JD's questions (Basketball shoes? Basketball shorts? Basketball man?).
• The woman who followed me off the N train and asked if she could help me carry the stroller up 2 flights of stairs, and then did.
• The police officers and passersby that pointed me in the right direction to elevators (Why are the always hidden down dark hallways?) 
• The presumably homeless man who got up to open a door for me when he saw me struggling with JD & the stroller.
• The teenage girls on the (wrong) train who distracted O from his hunger with a game of peek-a-boo.
• The life insurance guy guy who tipped off Hubby and didn't judge.

Hopefully this post doesn't turn you off to visiting NYC (even in the rain), because I will be posting about our staycation in the city next week!