Today was unseasonably chilly for June in this part of the country, and while we never got any rain today, it looked ominous to say the least all day long. RP let me sleep in this morning, after waking me up at 2:15 a.m. for a random " 'nuggle," and then again at 6 a.m. when she thought the sun should be up (luckily I convinced her that since the sun was still sleeping, and Mickey Mouse wasn't on TV yet, she should go back to bed - she must have been tired too because I didn't see her again, or hear her playing in her room, for another 2 1/2 hours!). Since it was cold and crappy out, I struggled with what we would do today, then decided that after a leisurely morning of cleaning the kitchen I would surprise RP with a trip to the carnival portion of our local "Taste of ---."
I told RP to grab her shoes and sweatshirt and that Mommy had a surprise for her, and after she convinced me that our trip to the gas station was just NOT a surprise meant for her (smart girl!), she was beside herself excited when she saw all the rides and what she thought was a blow-up jumpie as we pulled into the parking lot. She could hardly contain her excitement as she pulled on my hand and practically ran to the gate of the carnival, jammering excitedly on about going on the jumpie (which wasn't there, but hold that thought) and seeing everything else she could.
That ALL changed about 15 steps into the carnival. RP discovered that the giant gorilla she had seen from the back was just a big blow-up "monkey" - not a jumpie after all, and needless to say she was disappointed. However, nothing could prepare either of us for her reaction when she saw the blow-up that was 20 feet away from the gorilla - a giant, inflatable, red T-Rex dinosaur with huge teeth. My normally fearless child took one look at that balloon and came unhinged. She started screaming and crying that she did NOT like the dinosaur and that she wanted to go home - now. I remembered that a few weeks ago they had a Dino Jump at school and the teacher told me that she was afraid of it until she got closer and got to go IN the Dino Jump, after which time they had a hard time getting her out, so I tried to use the same tactics. I showed her that it was just a "balloon" and that it was tied down - it wasn't going anywhere, it wasn't real, and it wasn't going to get her. She shook her head at me as I carried her closer and closer, and then refused to look at it, crying the whole time.
I tried another tactic. I hid her head in my shoulder as we moved into the carnival area and tried to show her all the rides she could ride - the merry-go-round, the choo-choo train, etc. Everything she normally would have LOVED and begged me to ride over and over and over. Nothing. She kept glancing back toward the dinosaur and begging me to leave. When I put her down so that we could talk it over again, the child literally BOLTED away from me - thank goodness for her monkey harness that I had wisely put on her before we left the van! She was screaming and crying, and literally running for her life, with me in tow not three feet behind her! When we finally got to a fence, I picked her up again and she was shaking and crying, sobbing that the dinosaur was going to get her and that she wanted to go home - now.
Needless to say we left, although I did try to ply her with carnival games where she won her first two stuffed animal prizes ever (we, however, came home with THREE new stuffed animals because one of the carnies felt so sorry for how pitiful she looked crying and carrying on that he threw in an extra one to try to make her feel better - what a nice guy!) but nothing dissuaded her from leaving. We went out to lunch afterward, and all through lunch she kept asking me where the dinosaur was now and was it going to get her. I must have convinced her that the dinosaur wasn't coming anywhere near her, because she finally seemed to relax and stopped asking about the dinosaur, enjoying her lunch and the ice cream that followed.
As "Plan B" for the day we visited the local library for the first time ever, and RP now has her very own library card! She had a BALL in the library (I'm not sure if it was all the books, or her ability to incessantly tell me to "Shhhh" in the library every time I tried to tell her something!) and came home with SIX books, all of which we HAD to read immediately. I am so happy that she has a love of reading already and had such a great time at the library, especially since the day really didn't pan out as I had anticipated, although I now see at least weekly, if not bi-weekly trips, to the library in our near future as she gobbles up all the books she can off those shelves!
I honestly don't know what prompted her recent fear of dinosaurs, or her violent reaction to seeing it today. When I asked her where she was running to when she tried to take off on me, she looked at me like I was an idiot and said simply, "Home, Mommy. I needed to go home." She didn't seem to know, or care, that I was running behind her at the time - all her little body and mind knew was that she needed to get back to the safety of her home and away from that dinosaur, and I anticipate that we will have several more dinosaur-related discussions here in the near future.
Whew - for a slow-starting day, what an eventful Friday it turned out to be!!!
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