The Statue of Liberty discriminates

Did you know you have to be 4 ft tall to climb the Statue of Liberty? (Or as Bud calls it the Statute of Liverty) This is a HUGE bummer. Bud has barely talked about anything else lately so I told him we could take a trip to Nana’s and make a stop at the Statue. That was not my first mistake.

This all started a couple of weeks ago while we were out for an evening stroll. We have a civil war statue at the four corners in town (yes, the four corners because that’s all we got) and Bud started to ask questions. We starting talking about statues in general and I mentioned that you can climb the Statue of Liberty and go inside her crown. Well! Since then that’s all it’s been. How big is the Statute of Liverty? Is it bigger than God? How do you get into the Statute of Liverty’s crown? Can we go now to see the Statute of Liverty? Does the Statute of Liverty move? You get the idea.

So last night we called my mom because I needed the kids needed a Nana fix and I mentioned that Bud really wants to see it. We got talking about it and she mentioned she wasn’t sure if it was still open to tourist to go to the top (post 9/11 all those fun things were stopped) so I went online to see if we could climb and I came across the FAQ page. The second question is “Can we carry our small child up to the crown?” I was thinking about Babe so I clicked on it. I had a mini panic attack when I read that you must be 4 ft tall. CRAP! Now I have Bud all sorts of excited about going and now he can’t! Crappity crap crap!

I know he would be able to climb to the top. He’s been on hikes and all sorts of physical activities with us before and there is no question that he could do it. But that really doesn’t matter because he’s only 3 feet and if he grows like me (God, please don’t let him grow like me. Amen.) then he’s going to have to wait until he’s in high school before he can do it.

While I’m trying to figure out how to back track and not break his little heart, my quick thinking mom says that he’ll have to come and visit her anyway and go to the beach (CT side of Long Island sound) instead. “Ok” he says. “I’ll just come to the beach and wait until I’m 4 feet tall.” Phew! Crisis Averted! Thankfully the beach ranks just as high as the Statute of Liverty in his 5 year old mind. Thank you Nana!

Next fixation: “Can I go surfing at Nana’s beach?”

CRAP.

Lily