I See Your Cold and Raise You a Penguin

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Once upon a time when I woke up this morning, I felt all better. No. I didn’t. I was beginning to think this illness was payback for not inviting all my friends to my company Christmas party!

I glanced at my bedside table, looked down upon the sea of used Kleenex, the bottle of Cloraseptic throat spray, the scattered Tylenol pills, and the box of Kleenex and asked myself, “Do I still need any of this stuff?” As I swallowed, my throat screamed, “Hell ya!” and my nose began to run yet again.

I thought, “Should I stay home or should I go to the aquarium with Iz as I had promised yesterday?” I felt like another day on the couch was necessary. I sighed.

And, just then the door to my bedroom swung wide open with a bang, announcing the entrance of Iz, who immediately asked, “Mommy, is today the day we’re going to the aquarium?” I glanced at my pile of cold-aids, and then back at Iz, and I finally said, “Yes. Today is the day!” She squealed with delight and then ran downstairs.

I threw on my vintage yellow sweater over my vintage mint green nightgown, grabbed a Kleenex, and I followed her downstairs. When I arrived in the kitchen, Iz again knew something was up by my outfit. She said to herself, "Mom hardly ever comes downstairs wearing her PJs!"

Sensing my lingering illness, she tried to change the subject by asking, “Mommy, do you know why you eat breakfast?” I sniffled, blew my nose, and asked, “No, Iz. Why?” She yelled, “So, you can wake up!” and she cackled like a crazy woman. I smiled back at her.

She knew I was still sick and cared about me, but nothing could break the mother-daughter contract for a day at the aquarium. After all, she had spent four days in Western Pennsylvania with her very elderly grandparents; she so earned this trip to the aquarium!

Just like a comedienne who is bombing at the Comedy Connection, she knew she was losing her fatigued fan. She knew I had most likely little to no interest in the trip; however, she didn’t want to postpone, and I didn’t blame her. She loves the aquarium, and so did I. So, she quickly said in her sweetness voice, hoping to revive her ailing audience, “Mom, thanks for taking me to the aquarium today!”

I laughed and said, “You’re welcome, Iz.” We ate our breakfast, changed our clothes, and at 10am, it was time to pick up Noah. Originally, it was just going to be a trip for me and Iz; however, at 3pm yesterday, Iz invited Noah. I didn’t even think to invite Noah, because he was in the fourth grade.

I thought it would be harder for him to miss a day of school, though in the end, his Mom said it would be fine. He and Iz are like brother and sister anyway; they are only four years apart and rarely fight. Okay, maybe they’re not like a typical brother and sister, because they do get along really well and always have.

As I went to tie Iz’s sneakers, I noticed the laces were both in knots, bad knots. I sighed, sneezed, blew my nose, and then Iz tried to placate her sick showgoer with, “Mom, thanks so much for letting Noah come to the aquarium with me!” I said, “You’re welcome, Iz. We’ll have fun.” Iz then said, “Can I get you some more Kleenex?” She was working the crowd and really wanted to go to the aquarium.

Noah arrived at our house at 10:20am, because I was late picking him up. And, ironically, Iz and Noah played “Go Fish” for most of the car ride to Alewife, the subway station. I heard Iz respond to Noah once with “Thanks, Dude!”

I had to laugh, because Iz never says “Dude.” Isn’t it funny sometimes how people change how they speak to communicate with certain people? I think Iz feels that when she is with Noah, who she thinks the world of, that she has to speak like a Southern California surfer in order to be as cool as he is.

Once at the Alewife subway station, we parked on the 4th floor and took a very l-o-n-g escalator down to the actual station. Oddly, when in front of the ticket kiosk (oh, how I love to say that word!), there was a cold wind whipping through that part of the station. It was usually very warm there; however, I saw signs about construction, so I assumed there was a door, no, more like 1000, opened somewhere.

I started tapping away at the Charlie ticket machine, until I was interrupted by a tap on my arm by the woman standing at the machine next to me. She was an elderly Chinese woman. She showed me how her dollar bill would not go into the machine. I tried it a few times.

I cancelled out of her transaction. She pushed the Chinese button again, and I tried to figure out what she was doing given that she had $2 and her senior citizen ID in her hand. Freezing cold and with two children in tow, I gave up on her machine, and I said, “Let’s try my machine.”

Again, the same thing happened. Her bills would not go in, until I realized that perhaps I should look at the screen, even though it was in Chinese. Well, it wasn’t in Chinese. It was basically asking for an amount. We had to enter the sum of $2 before the machine would take the money. I typed in $2, and, just like that, her two one-dollar bills were sucked up quickly by the State of Massachusetts.

She smiled, and she thanked me. Well, there were words, but I didn’t know exactly what they meant. I knew they were “thank you” by the way she touched my arm whereas before when she touched my arm, it was “please.” Anyway, the whole experience proved to me that no matter what your language, those Charlie ticket machines are NOT user friendly.

Iz, Noah, and I made our way down the stairs to the platform to wait for the train. Iz and Noah began to stomp on each other’s toes and other such things, so I had to do the “Stop it now!” Mom thingy. I get nervous when they’re near the tracks. So, I was probably more fierce than I needed to be, but they both complied. And, the wonderful thing about Noah being “cool” is that he listens, and Iz does what Noah does!

Once on the train for 10 minutes, my two feet-stomping kids, turned into Jell-o. The lull of the train had seduced them into a sitting-quietly coma of sorts. I almost thought for a second that they had both had come down with the flu on the Red Line because they were so quiet!



Just then, I had an idea for an invention. Someone should invent a booth, kind of like one of those 4-pictures for $2 booths, that contains a bench yet takes no pictures. Instead, it gently rocks the occupants (children) into a calm state just like the subway does. Brilliant, huh?!

When we arrived at Downtown Crossing (the orange line), we got off. We had to take the Red Line to the Orange Line to the Blue Line to make it to the aquarium. I’m proud to say that I navigated that all successfully, though while trying to keep my ship on course during the Orange Line transition, I had to stop and absorb a subway map for a few minutes.

As we did, the elderly Chinese women I had helped at Alewife walked by me, smiled, and waved. It was ironic, because 30 minutes earlier, I helped her find her way. Now, it looked like she knew exactly where she was going, and I was the one who was lost.

When we emerged from the Aquarium Blue Line station, Iz said, “I’m hungry!” Rather than eat at the aquarium cafeteria, I said, “Let’s go to Legal Seafood.” Noah gave that idea and enthusiastic thumbs up, and so did Iz.

When there, Noah feasted on lobster, Iz on rolls and then macaroni and cheese, and I on clam chowder. And, after Noah devoured his lobster, which looked really good, he asked, “Can I have some chowder now?” Where does he put it?!?!

Lunch Time Antics

Iz asked Noah if he knew when the “Tooth Fairy” was coming out.

Iz told the waiter as she pointed to Noah, “He’s not my brother!” Though, I don’t think there were too many days when Iz didn’t wish Noah was her brother.

Noah offered Iz some of his French fries and she then faux smoked them, and I told her to cut that out immediately!

Iz said that she hoped the divers in the tank didn't get “stinged.” And Noah immediately corrected her and said, “Stung.”

Noah asked me about how a sting ray killed Steve Irwin, and I said I had no idea, but perhaps he could ask the people at the aquarium.

Once at the aquarium, we checked out the penguins, and then went to the top of the huge tank. I saw a volunteer nearby, and I told Noah to ask his question about the sting rays. She told him that they trimmed the stingers, so that there was no worry about any of the divers suffering the same fate as Steve Irwin.

It’s funny, because though Iz is my daughter, I enjoyed Noah’s inquisitiveness about all the creatures. Iz is still young, and she lost her interest in the aquarium after buying her stuffed seal at the gift shop. Noah got a necklace with a real shark tooth on it, but it only seemed to make him more interested in all the creatures about us.

Noah wanted to stay for the penguin show at 2:30. A diver was in with the penguins, describing all the different types in great detail, and Noah even asked a question. In my many years of coming to the aquarium with young children, it was the first time I was there with a child who wanted to know everything, and it was everything I had missed all these years.

At 3pm, the divers would go in the large tank and feed all the animals. Noah asked if we could stay for that, too. “Sure,” I said excitedly. We ventured up to the top, and Noah stood there fascinated the whole time, as was I. The volunteer described the turtles, the sharks, and the fish in such wonderful detail. In the back of my head, I kept saying, “Shit. I should have been a marine biologist,” while Iz kept saying, “Can we go now?”

On the way home, we did the reverse Blue, Orange, Red Line trip perfectly. Though, it was longer than driving, we never had to experience the frigid temperatures outside, as we were underground. That didn't prevent Iz, my beautiful girl, from saying to me at the Central Square stop, "Are we there yet?"



We had a great day. And, you know, they do say, “Starve a fever; learn about penguins when you have a cold.” Yes, they do. Did you know that penguins have feathers? I didn’t. Who knew they were birds? And, since when do birds wear tuxedos? Um, never mind, just pass the scrambled eggs again, please. ♥