Mummy To Twins Plus One
Planning fun things to do with kids is exciting.
Wondering what their reactions will be, hearing the shock, delight, wonder, and amazement is a thing to look forward to.
However, when you finally reveal the outing, experience the outing or event it is never as you imagined.
I took my youngest to VIVID at Taronga Zoo. I envisaged it to be a joyous night out with my little boy. It started off well but then went wrong. He liked the some of the buildings and a few lights before we entered.
While we were walking around, he lost interest in many of the lights. He did find some of the cicadas in the trees and a few bees interesting but that is where it ended.
He kept on telling me he wanted to go home, he had enough, moaning and yelling about the fact he wanted to watch my phone. I explained that he was not going to watch my phone, we were out in a wonderful place to experience a fun event at VIVID.
Many times, he tried to get the phone out of my pocket and was doing his best by harassing me telling me the same things repeatedly. I think he was trying to wear me down. Annoying me to give him what he wanted. Well, I am here to tell you it didn’t work.
I picked this kid up early from school. Drove over an hour to get to the Zoo and waited for the park to open for the 5.30pm session of VIVID at Taronga Zoo. Paid for tickets and parking to attend this treat for my little person.
I explained to my little boy that we don’t need to watch a phone when we are having a fun experience. I made sure to see all the light installations and that didn’t go very well with a moody six-year-old. It could have been he was tired, but I did hope the excitement of the event would mean that he wasn’t as moody as he was.
My thought of a fun and a joyous night out wasn’t to be, there were a few moments that it was nice and fun. It was hard to be harassed every minute and demands for my mobile phone. It was a great pity and one it made me upset about why I bothered in the first place.
We finally arrived at the Gorilla lights and the big Gorilla statue. I did ask to take photos of my little boy at other lights, but he wasn’t having it. He only let me take one photo of him at the HUGE Gorilla statue.
Now when he speaks about the trip to the Zoo to see the lights, he says it was fun and tells his daddy and sisters all the things he saw. While at the Zoo, I bought him a small stuffed lion. He thinks this lion is fantastic and tells everyone that he got it from the zoo when seeing the lights.
The next night I took my little boy to the markets to see a bonfire and fireworks. He wasn’t keen and raved on about the fact he didn’t want to go. It took a lot of convincing to get him in the car. He did perk up when he saw the bonfire and was happy with a car and magic wand purchased at the markets and then finally the fireworks were the thing that impressed him the most.
It is not just my youngest that turns wonderful surprises into horrible events, I have spent heaps of money and time organising surprises for the twins and when the kids had the surprise it turns out to be a fiasco. Arguing, upset, complaining, tried kids, annoyed at things, and therefore ruins all the fun.
I recently took all three kids to the Hunter Valley on my own to have it turn into a HUGE disaster, kids not doing as they were told, acting horribly and not listening to their mother at all. I bought them treats, an early lunch, we all had a good game of mini golf and then we went off to the fair to enjoy the rides and this is where it all went pear shaped!
The older kids decided they didn’t want to go on any rides, one kid went with her younger brother but then ended up too dizzy and had to sit out. One kid was mental about me buying a balloon and then tried to convince me and the six-year-old this was a good idea.
No one wanted to go on any rides, everyone was arguing and although I was spending money and taking them to other places all I got was kids being horrible.
So, I did what any annoyed, upset, and tired parent would have done. I gave away our ride tickets to a family that had a lot of kids and told everyone that we were leaving. I finally rounded up all three kids, got in the car and drove to the hotel.
However, upon arrival of our hotel room I ended up negotiating with my six-year-old for nearly 2 hours about what bed and room he would stay in and why he was not just staying in the bigger room and why it was mummies. While this all happened, I calmed him down with my phone but then of course that drained the power, and my phone was my only way to pay for things…. OH NO!
I managed to charge the phone to over 20 percent, took my charger with me as I had an early dinner booking at the pub down the road. Dinner was finally okay and while at dinner my little boy’s second tooth fell out, so it was eventful for another reason. The pub was kind enough to charge my phone and by the time we left for our hotel the phone was over 50 percent charged. We all retired to our room, and I finally got my youngest asleep after 8pm and then I could finally enjoy some tv and alone time for me.
My second day at the Hunter Valley was not great either. Moody teenagers that don’t want to help, and a six-year-old that is unfortunately is copying the moody older kids. My plans to entertain the kids were thwarted and, in the end, we went to do a wine tasting as they also had kid friendly drinks while I tasted wine. I decided as no one was hungry due to still being full from our late breakfast or otherwise early lunch. I cancelled our planned lunch (which would have been at a farm) and started the drive home. On the way home stopped off and had a game of mini golf, to calm the golf obsessed little kid who believes he is a golf expert.
Again, I don’t know why I bother at all!
Does this happen to you? You go to a lot of trouble doing something you think will be fun to have it be a nightmare?
I do keep on trying as I believe that kids need experiences. They need to learn about different places, different people, learn by doing and the experience of travel too.
One thing that I believe that kids do learn is how to behave in different situations and what is expected. If you never take your kids anywhere, they will not know what is expected when they are suddenly in a different environment or learn from others that they meet throughout your travels.
Why is it that your expectations and excitement doesn’t live up to what exactly happens on the day.
Also, why is it that when the kids tell others it seems like it was the best day ever!
I really don’t understand why this happens. Also why is it that the parent is the most excited about the trip or event in the first place? Maybe the parents should just go and leave the kids next time.
Let me know your thoughts. Does this happen to you?
