The things I do for this child….
200 screaming children and their parents, packed into the children’s section of Barnes & Noble, all trying to see a man in a giant red dog suit…..
Lil’ Duck was all excited about going to see Clifford, so both of us got all ready, we made a short stop at Starbucks (did you know they have stuffed MONSTERS there??! that made his day right there….) and we were off to the mall….
Now, there is a reason why I don’t go shopping on Saturday & an even bigger reason why I don’t go to this mall on weekends. It is jam-packed, even without this special event. Now that hundreds of small children and their parents have flooded the mall, it’s just an extra-special experience. Perhaps if I’d known where in the mall this place was…. it’s a large, two-story mall and I have Lil’ Duck, the stroller, the diaper bag, the stuffed Clifford, the obligatory duck, sippy cups, my purse, and our cups/food from Starbucks. I stop to try to read the teeny print on the directory & another mother informs me that it is “this way, follow her”.
If you tell this to someone, please do know where you are going. A walk around the entire first floor of the mall wasn’t what I had in mind. Not to mention waiting in line forever for the elevator after I determined that it had to be on the second floor. Only two strollers can fit on this tiny elevator at once, and there is only one elevator. Who knows what the mall people were thinking there. Finally, we reach the second floor and only have to walk halfway around to find it. Seeing the huge crowd in front of the store should have made me turn around right there, but the crows from the stroller of “Clifford, read, see Clifford” propelled me into the crowd. No sign of Clifford, only one small lady yelling reading a book to hundreds of squirmy toddlers.
We make our way to the back of the store, abandon the stroller and discover….. trains! A train table, which is always there, was the big attraction today. Lil’ Duck and 15 other toddlers all had to fight over share some little trains and a small train table. This didn’t deter him at all, the table wasn’t anchored down so it was sliding around and all the toddlers were bunched in one corner, fighting over 4 trains, while the whole other side of the table was empty with several trains, of course. Finally, they all worked it out, Lil’ Duck found a small space with a covered bridge, and he happily pushed the train in and out of his little allotted space over and over again.
Despite repeated questioning about Clifford, he wanted nothing better than to stay and play with the trains. Finally, it was evident from the noise level that Clifford was indeed arriving, so being a good mommy, I scooped him up and lugged him over to where Clifford was appearing. He did get a glimpse or two of him as I held him up between other heads and shoulders (did I mention the 200+ screaming toddlers?), all the while screeching for his train table. There was some semblance of a very long line to go see Clifford and take a photo…. however, the screams of “No Clifford, trains, ucky Clifford” led us back to the train table again. We watched the progress of the line from the relative calm of the train area, from which I could only assume that each child read several books alone with Clifford, as we were there for over 30 minutes and the same person was still in view when we left. I imagine it would have taken over an hour just to see Clifford for a minute, and judging from the reaction, I imagine it also would have been a screaming nightmare.
So…. we played with the trains, then I let him go to the kids play area downstairs, where he happily climbed up into the fake tree and slid down over and over and over with cries of “whee” and “wow, slide, steps, climb up, down, wow!”. Finally he collapsed into a screaming puddle of woe and is actually napping right now (why I am not, however, is still a mystery to me).
He had a great time, but it just goes to show that you never know what will happen with a toddler…. 
Linked to Third World County & Pirate’s Cove
They always surprise you don’t they? Like I bought my lil tornado this expensive Fisher Price toy and he preferred the lid of a canister over it. My gosh!
I tagged you by the way. Check it out.
Glad he had a good time!
I had a similar experience last year around Christmas. I took my daughter to the mall to meet Strawberry Shortcake. No trains there, but they did hand out free cookies, but didn’t have enough to satisfy the entire crowd of toddlers. Pair upset toddlers with angry parents – we’re lucky we got out alive.
You’re a good mom if you will put up with all that. Some day he will be eternally grateful!
Yep, hate the mall on the weekends. Expecially the play area where there’s a million kids running and jumping into each other. It’s a nightmare when you have a one-year old toddler with you.
What a good mommy you are for trying!! Those train tables are a toddler trap. My son screams bloody murder when he gets his hair cut (he was born with a full head of hair and has had to get it cut since he was 7 months). I took him to one of those places where you get to sit in a car or firetruck to get your hair cut. They had a train table. It was great while we waited for his turn, but then turned ugly when he tried to tear him away so they could cut his hair. I don’t know if sitting in the car would have calmed him for the haircut, because he got his cut at the train table. Thomas the Tank Engine was wearing a toupee by the time we left. Kids have a mind of their own
Toddlers and indeed kids will be kids LOL
This is how I know that you are a better mom than me…..the fair is in town and we are going to take Katarina this week, but we purposefully did not go tonight-the night that the bigger than life size Dora was appearing for photos. The thought of the 200 toddlers-the screaming-the longest line in the history of the world…….well, we decided to go tomorrow instead.
We went through a similar thing when Dora came to a local bookstore. Talk about pandamonium! Girlie Girl was too scared to even go near her! Oh well, at least we try . . .
I was working at one of my clients and noticed they had just unpacked a computer out of a huge box. “Do you need to keep that box?” I asked. “No, why?” they asked and I grinned.
That night the children had a great time playing in their new “bus” daddy brought home from work!
I remember when my daughter was a toddler she was afraid of ANY characters — including Santa! She was the ONLY child on the Christmas train that cried when Santa came to give her a candy cane. She loved Elmo, but when we took her to Sesame Place & saw the life-size Elmo she totally freaked! LOL