Our Tennis Staycation

What our baby thought about the staycation

What a novel idea, I thought, when I first heard the neologism for a stay-at-home vacation. You save on transport, lodging and food, and get to take in local attractions. We opted for a staycation this week as it coincided with Montreal's Rogers Cup. We had purchased tickets for every session well in advance. The only limiting factor was the Brat.

While the baby seems to enjoy swinging a tennis racquet, and even attempts to hit her nerf balls on occasion, spectating is a different story. We took her last year to this same tennis tournament when she was barely 6 months old. She behaved for relatively short periods of time, but we did not want to risk disturbing the players on Centre Court (for which we had tickets). I remember thinking last year that this year would be much easier. She could sit on our lap at centre court, we would explain the game to her, and she would be so enthralled as to quietly watch the matches. What was I thinking?!

We didn't even attempt to bring her along this year. We knew from the outset that she was too active to sit still for any length of time. Additionally, the weather was not cooperating. At the beginning of the week, the temperatures were too hot to have her sit outdoors, and by mid-week pouring rain had postponed a few of the matches.

In the end, my husband and I alternated caring for her and attending the tournament. Mostly, my husband attended during the day, while he watched her at home in the evening. This definitely defeated the purpose of us attending together, but like real vacations, nothing guarantees success.

The semi-finals and finals will take place this Saturday and Sunday, and my mother and sister have generously offered to watch her while we attend. Perhaps there is still hope that this staycation will be salvaged... or perhaps the next time we organize a staycation, the Brat comes first!