Meltdown and Lunch at the V&A

Despite exhaustion at the Museum of Natural History, I knew I needed more than fresh air. I needed lunch. Next door was the Victoria and Albert, a museum "I" liked and I was pretty sure they had a restaurant/cafe/something. By the time we found it, I was a cranky child ready to burst into tears, and dh was losing patience with me. There was a line but it was the kind of line situation where you get hot drinks here, cold drinks there, food there, and I didn't KNOW what I wanted. I kind of just despaired and told dh to get me anything...anything...because the tears were on the brink, and I could have flung myself down on the cold floor and wailed. Some level of maturity prevented this and I said "I'll find seats..." and ran away to get myself back into calm adult mode.

I was feeling myself get collected and centered when a mother and adult son and daughter appeared at the table next to ours. The tables were fairly small and certainly designed for two. Mum and son dashed off and 30ish (?) daughter was left. I quickly realized daughter was not quite 'all there' as she asked me questions and proffered her own blunt, unhappy responses to my brief comments. It was rather ironic that she had the same complaints...too many people, too noisy, too ..too. I longed for dh to return and get me out of this conversation that was not going well. If I didn't talk, she glared. If I made a remark or asked a question she didn't like, she glared and pretty much told me I should have known better.

DH arrived with tea for me and coffee for him and some hot meal. It fades in my mind. Once the table was 'covered' by dh's presence, I was able to get up and get some cold water also. I was finally back on level ground. While we ate, mum and son came back, and I realized Mum truly had her hands full with both her 'children'. Both of these adult/children had issues, and bickered back and forth repetitively about minute details of their food all the while we were there. Mum was unphased and I give her a lot of credit for raising these two for obviously a long time.

On our way out, we walked thru here and a few other galleries.

original by canmark

I did a bit of walk around on my own while dh had a slight nap in one of he galleries. I loved so many things in the shop but even then, I had reached my own limit. DH got on the bus and I took the walk home, and by evening, I was no longer out of sorts. I think this happens about once a trip and then I'm back to normal. How about you? What causes your meltdown on a trip?