Doubletree & Adventures in Single Motherhood

Doubletree Alsip

Doubletree is my favorite hotel chain.  It is high quality while still being affordable.  The rooms are always clean and comfortable.  The beds are especially comfortable and have nice thick duvets.  I always sleep so heavily when I’m staying at a Doubletree. The service is consistently friendly and competent.  There’s a relaxed vibe with this chain and I have stayed at Doubletrees all over the country.  The warm chocolate chip cookies upon check-in are nice, too.

The Doubletree in Alsip, Illinois is easy to miss.  It’s right next to a Days Inn and the hotels are just east of Public Storage.  It’s easy to miss the sign.  It seems out of place - a nice hotel in a primarily industrial area. I’ve been to the hotel’s restaurant, Allgauer’s, with my husband for after-work drinks and appetizers.  The food is good and so is the friendly service.  Basic menu items done well.  I have also gone to their Sunday brunch – typical brunch foods, fruit, omelettes, waffles, bacon and eggs, etc.  The food is fresh and well-prepared.

This past Friday, I attended a wedding in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.  The room was nice.  The food was typical banquet food: cream of chicken soup, salad (that came with Mandarin oranges and candied pecans, tasty), main course of beef medallions in a mushroom gravy, chicken (which was actually very dry), mashed potatoes, and carrots with what tasted like a maple glaze (very yummy).  Dessert was wedding cake.  Dinner was served by the waiters wearing white gloves, nice touch.  The bathroom was very clean and had a feature I like, a lounge area for ladies to touch up their makeup.

Adventures in Single Motherhood

My husband went on a golf trip to Michigan this past week – was gone late Wednesday night through late Sunday night.  I have always admired single mothers – I have two special needs kids and a husband and it is still challenging on a daily basis.  My family was in Oregon for a cousin’s wedding, so I knew I would not be able to call any of them for help.  I was seriously panicking as far as what I would do if I needed help, regardless of the fact that I'm sure I could call any of my friends or regular babysitters in a pinch.

It was interesting that Sean never asked about his dad.  I asked him, “where’s Daddy?” and he said, “he’s at work.”  Still not much of a concept of time.  Content his dad was simply at work that entire time.

I confess I let them get away with some things that drive their dad nuts.  Todd likes to put small plastic toys in the kitchen sink, then run water over them.  Tim can’t stand this, but I don’t mind.  Todd entertains himself for hours doing this and it doesn’t involve him smashing more holes in the drywall or destroying major appliances or furniture, so I’m fine with it.

I find it’s good to get the kids out of the house on a non-school day.  They get as stir crazy as an adult would.  There was a lot of on and off rain this weekend, so I couldn’t take them to the park or even out in our courtyard.

I took both kids to the store with me for the first time.  I thought, “God, what am I thinking, I’m taking the kids to Wal Mart!”  They did okay.  Todd was in the main basket of the cart and Sean walked alongside of me.  We got a few funny looks when Todd would scream, but for the most part, people minded their own business.  I found that if I lingered in any aisle for too long, Todd would start to get upset and try to climb out of the cart.  As long as I kept moving, he was fine.  Sean enjoyed looking at the plants and flowers.  He managed to throw a lot of snack foods and sugary beverages into the cart. 

On Saturday, I took the kids to Trader Joe’s.  Trader Joe’s has cute little carts the kids can push themselves.  I put Todd in the main basket of my cart and Sean pushed his own little cart.  He was so cute and so proud of himself for helping with shopping.  He did good – filled his cart with mostly fruits plus a box of cereal.  I took the kids over to the sampling area, wondering if they would be more open to trying something new in a different environment.  The samples were the Trader Joe’s version of Cheerios topped with organic blueberries.  The beverage sample was almond milk.  Sean loved the fruit and cereal.  Todd picked off the blueberries, handed them to me and ate the Cheerios.  Sean gagged on the almond milk and Todd wouldn’t even touch it after seeing his brother’s reaction.

The check-out man was lovely.  Todd was screaming and trying to jump out of the cart.  It made it very difficult to unload the cart and put the filled bags back in.  Not one moment of judgment or annoyance.  He rang me up quickly, loaded the cart with the bags and helped me out of there.  I have dealt with my share of asses at this particular Trader Joe’s (Orland Park, Illinois) but it just goes to show you should never give up on human nature – I truly believe most people are kind at heart.

Saturday, we had a first:  I took Sean to a party at a friend's home (one of my sitters was able to watch Todd for an hour or two).  At some point, Sean developed a terror of dogs.  Our neighbor upstairs had a puppy the size of a teacup and he screamed like it was a monster.  Perhaps something happened when he was still  non-verbal that I never knew about because he was unable to tell me.  Anyway, my friend has three small dogs.  Sean screamed bloody murder as soon as he saw them.  I'm happy to say within a half hour he was playing with the dogs.  Tentatively, but this was a big step for him. 

On Sunday, I treated the kids to McDonald’s for what I considered to be a successful weekend! No major meltdowns or disasters.  Whew!