The Stay at Home Mother

Although I am staying locally this spring break with my children - I have figured out different things to do with them each day to make it seem as if they were on vacation.

I did arrange for different art projects to do at home, but I also added in things to do that would only be done if we were tourists. ie - A trip to Lonsdale Quay Market on the Northshore. The plan was to take the skytrain and seabus in.

We actually went yesterday to kick it all off and it wasn't as great as I had hoped......

The children were really excited because we took the skytrain in to Vancouver. It was their first ride on the skytrain. We initially drove to Metro town to catch the skytrain. And if you haven't been to Metro town for awhile (like me, I think its been more than 15 years) don't bother going.

The Mall was so crowded you could barely walk without someone bumping in to you. People will literally run your children over if you don't keep them close to you while you walk.

The skytrain was terribly busy and as we walked towards the throngs of people getting off as we were trying to get on, we realized that perhaps coming out on a Saturday wasn't the best idea.

Both my son and daughter enjoyed the ride in, and then when we arrived in Vancouver, were excited to take the Sea Bus over to the North shore.

What's great is that the Sea Bus fare is included in your Skytrain ticket (as long as you have paid for the zones correctly).

Londsdale Quay was a bit stressful as the merchants seemed desperate for business and I actually had one who had a kiosk at the market, come up and start putting barretts in my hair.

I smiled and told her no, but she kept saying "Come over here, take a look at my stuff". And when I reluctanly walked over, she told me to "stay" while she went off to nab another unsuspecting person walking by.

High pressure tactics at its worst.

The only toy store in the market had an older man and woman working at it. They stared at us as we walked in with our children, and then proceeded to follow us around the store, looking over our shoulders.

At every section of the toy store were big signs that read "Please Keep Neat", almost as if to say "Don't touch!"

Good policy at a toy store.

When my daughter reached to pick up a toy to play with, the older gentleman cleared his throat and shook his head slightly behind her, to express his disapproval.

My husband picked up on this message, and told my daughter that it was time to leave.

There was an area for children to play at the market that was unsupervised. There were rides for children, where you could pay $1.00. So I put the dollar in and waited for the little train to go - only it didn't. And no, it wouldn't return my dollar. And of course, because there was no one who was supervising the area, there was no one to return my dollar.

I wonder how many other unsuspecting parents this happened to?

There were many food vendors there, but nothing that really stood out.

When we left to return to Vancouver, we were very disappointed. If you are looking for a great place to go with your children that includes fun things for children, a fresh market and great food vendors, then Granville Island is the place to go. I think we will try again and head there during the week.

So although the destination was a disappointment for us and the children - how we got there (with the skytrain and seabus) more than made up for it.

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For those living in Coquitlam and surrounding area, there is a Kid's Stuff Swap Meet happening on March 28th from 10 - 2pm at Gleneagle Secondary School, located at 1195 Lansdowne.

Admisssion is free and tables are still available to rent. To book a table, call 604-461-1240 or email rosecare@telus.net.