Baby’s second trip to the zoo

I remember writing about the first time I took my son to the Zoo. He was still small enough to fit into the baby carrier. Mind you he had just turned one so he wasn’t that small either but he was also young enough to tire himself out easily.

My toddler however, is the opposite of his younger self. He is much more aware, more restless and more recently, subject to bouts of random tantrums.

My child has always loved buses and trains. He was also a dream baby when we flew with him halfway across the world. He chose the fateful day of our trip to the zoo to suddenly hate trains.

He kept making a dash for the doors and throwing himself all over the train floor in protest. By the third train stop I was already regretting my decision. However, we managed to calm him and got to the zoo in one piece.

As soon as we got to the Zoo he wanted to get off his stroller. We made a beeline for the aquarium as we knew the enchanting displays of fish would mesmerise him. When we left the aquarium, we took him out of the stroller and he dashed off like a bullet train. I can safely conclude that we never saw any other animals as the boy ran around the grounds doing his own thing.

The zoo was also full of other kids with their parents. Children ranging from all ages, up to and including newborns. The countless strollers and wagons made it hard to navigate the small paths. Other parents were also racing after their kids trying to keep them out of trouble hoping to get them to eat the homemade snacks they carried.

I had one child and I was sweating profusely trying to keep up with him. I looked over at the families with multiple young children wondering why they would put themselves through this. I overheard one kid telling his father that he did not want to be there.

Meanwhile the dad was coaxing him by telling him about all the great animals they would see at the zoo. I wondered why as parents we put ourselves through such ordeals when clearly our children are not interested nor do they have any idea what is going on.

Meanwhile, we left the zoo about two hours later having only seen a couple of the many attractions. Our son also had the biggest meltdown of his life and nothing would placate him.

I called my sister that evening practically crying saying “never again!” She looked at me like I was crazy and asked “so what’s your plan? Will you keep him cooped up in the house for the years to come?”

She went on to tell me about how we do not do things for our children because they are fun, we do them because we are required to expose them to as much of the world as we can.