Everyone has weird fears. For example, probably around the
time I was five or six, I was terrified of going into the basement of my
parents' house. It wasn't for the normal reasons that most children are afraid
of the basement though. No, for some weird reason, I didn't want to go down
there because the Nintendo resided down there. Still sound weird? For some
strange reason, I had this irrational fear that Bowser, the spiky-shelled
nemesis of Super Mario, was going to magically going to pop out of the console
and come after me.
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| Don't lie; you think he's terrifying too! |
It just goes to show how everyone has fears, no matter how
irrational they may seem on the surface. For more example, allow me to share
about my first solo trip to the Kansas City Zoo with Ellie and Ethan. At least
I'm pretty sure it was my first solo trip. Sorry if I'm mistaken about that.
I, for one, was kind of fearing this trip. Even if it wasn't
really my first solo trip to the Zoo, it did have somewhat of a 'first time'
quality. This was the first time with both kids that I wouldn't be taking a
stroller. Instead, I had the bright idea to strap Ethan in his carrier while
Ellie trotted alongside. Honestly, I had no idea how this would go as Ellie
occasionally shows a lazy streak where she absolutely does not want to walk
under her own power. Lucky for me, that wasn't the case today. Instead, Ellie
ran ahead of me most of the morning, only taking brief breaks in the penguin
house, the carousel, and the train.
Speaking of the train, that leads us to Ethan and his
somewhat random fear of the aforementioned train. In case you don't know, the
train I'm referring is not the massive kind traversing the country as we speak.
No, this is instead a much smaller version made for slowly pulling families
around the zoo whilst they "Oooh" and "Aaah" at all the
animals.
Since we were the only people at the station, we had our
choice of seats. Ellie quickly chose a row safely nestled in the middle of the
train. Since I knew we would be riding for a while, I decided to take Ethan out
of the carrier, letting him sit on my lap so he could happily look around.
Ethan was more than happy to oblige or at least he was until the train started
moving. Once the whistle blew and we began to rumble down the tracks, Ethan
began making a rumble of his own, crying loudly as we chugged along.
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| Happier times on the KCZ Express. |
While one would think Ethan's crying would diminish as we
traveled along, that was far from the case. In fact, his crying just rose in
intensity with every tunnel, curve, straight stretch, and kangaroo crossing.
Yes, that's correct; we did have to make an emergency stop so the conductor
could shoo kangaroos off of the track AND away from the gates. The only thing
that ultimately calmed Ethan was the end of the train ride.
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| The rule-breaking marsupial in question. |
That brings us to Ellie. Like Ethan and I, the zoo brought
its own set of fears for her. Although, hers were more pedantic in nature. For
example, chief among them was not riding the African Sky Safari, or big swing
as she calls it. However, since we weren't traveling to Africa on this day,
that was not a legitimate concern.
Don't worry though, she did have one additional concern.
"Daddy, where is
the polar bear? Why is he inside and not outside? Will he stay inside all
day?"
Oh, the simple concerns of a toddler. Pretty adorable,
right? #DaddyWrite
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| Ellie did have one additional concern I failed to mention. That being what carousel animal she should ride. The cheetah won out. |
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