Inaguaration Escapade - The Sequel

Yesterday at 12:01 pm Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th, and first African American, President of the United States. While Natalie can’t pronounce his name, she was there.

The day went much better than one could expect given that it was 25 degrees and one million other dads also decided to bring their daughters to the inauguration. In fact it went without a hitch, in very large part because of excellent suggestions by Natalie’s aunt and her friend.

In case you’re wondering, an inauguration requires great planning – what to bring, what to wear and so on. Here’s a partial list of what I packed the night before…

3 packets of Tissues
1 lb of gummy bears
16 small packs of Disney Princess Treats
1 lb Genoa salami
3 small bottles of water
2 packs of Oscar Meyer Lunchables
6 ft rope (more about that later)
2 pairs of mittens, hats and neckups
1 Reece’s Easter Egg
Small pack of Oreo’s
Digital Camera
Disposable Princess Camera
Binoculars

Did I mention that backpacks weren’t allowed? Thank goodness for cargo pants.

I woke Natalie up at 6:30 (it’s usually the other way around) and was stunned when I turned on the local news. The National Mall was already full! Inappropriate words rolled through my head (and may have passed my lips) as I watched a sea of people fill the TV screen.

Uh-oh.

If it was this packed before the sun came up, what was it going to be like in an hour or so? Although Natalie’s aunt’s friend left to get us a place in line at the Newseum when we were waking up, I never really expected we would get in. Hanging out on the National Mall was the backup plan that was really the main plan. If the crowds kept on getting bigger we’d end up on the other side of the Potomac.

It turned out that it was easier than I could have ever expected.

We left about 8am and caught a cab that was able to take us within 4 blocks of the Newseum. The crowds were heavy, but I had tied Natalie and I together - no kidding! I also stuffed my business cards in every pocket of her pants and coat in case we got separated.

While we were walking the last few blocks I came across the guy who was selling the BEST inauguration pins. I know it’s true because he told me so.

We were able to quickly and easily find the line to the Newseum and Natalie’s aunt’s friend, who was holding a place in line for us.

I am not a line jumper. And truth be told, doing so posed a bit of a moral quandary for me. But I think in situations involving four year olds, events of historical significance and temperatures below freezing there must be a precedent or exception of some sort.

Standing outside in temperatures below freezing with a four year old is a recipe for disaster, but I had been inspired the night before. About 11pm while pondering what to do while standing around idle for most of the day - it hit me! I downloaded 3 princess movies onto my iPhone for Natalie to watch. It didn’t stop her from being uncomfortable, but it distracted her enough to get us in the door without a major meltdown.

It wasn’t until we were inside that I fully understood how inspired the idea of watching the inauguration from the Newseum was. After going through security, we checked our coats (that’s right – there was a coat check!), went to the cafeteria for coffee (that’s right – hot coffee AND food) and went to the top floor where we could look straight down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capital. We were also able to look right out the front window and see the motorcade traveling from the White House to the ceremony.

We could barely make out the platform with binoculars, but I never expected to be close enough to see. The view from 4 miles is as good as 1 mile. But to be ¼ mile away, inside, warm, with flushable toilets and 75 large screen TVs simulcasting the ceremony from every major news source in the world, was about as great an experience as it could get.

Several times I tried to text and call Natalie’s mom to let her know all was well, but the phone circuits were so overwhelmed that there was no service. I finally had to borrow someone’s phone to call and let her know that we were doing fine.

Natalie sat along the wall, during the pre-ceremony events watching her princess movie. Every once in a while I’d pause the movie to point out former presidents or other notable events. When the time for the actual ceremony came, we watched from the 100 foot video wall showing the event from newsfeeds around the world. When Rick Warren included the Lord’s Prayer as part of his invocation Natalie recited it along with him. When the president-elect arrived Natalie took a picture of the screen with the disposable Princess camera I bought her. When he took the oath of office, she stood and clapped along with everyone else in the room.

Afterwards, during his speech we wandered back to the main room where we could see the Capital. As the ceremony wound down it was clear that Natalie wasn’t going to last another six hours for the parade, no matter how warm or how good the seats were, so we decided to leave.

The only hitch of the day came on our way back to Natalie’s aunt’s house. We couldn’t find a taxi, so we had to walk. In the grand scheme of what could have gone wrong, this barely merits comment. But I see it as a sign that the fates wanted Natalie to be there, and some price, no matter how paltry, needed to be extracted.

We got back to the house and watched the Congressional luncheon and start of the parade before heading home. There was some traffic on the way out of the city, but not as much as you might expect. And the trip south was uneventful. We arrived home exactly six hours after the oath was administered.

I asked Natalie what she liked least about going to the inauguration and without missing a beat she said “Standing in line in the cold and walking home”.

I then asked Natalie was she liked most and she replied “Watching the princess movie.” Then she added, “and seeing President Orack Obama”.