A Mixed Bag of Emotions

One thing I've learned after having a child is... as parents, you want to provide them with as many fun and exciting events as possible!

So with that in mind, last night we took Hunter to the circus. I think I was just as excited as he was! It was the first time he has EVER been, and I couldn't wait to watch his excitement. As it turns out, it was a strange experience for all of us. While we were standing in line to get our tickets, he announced that he didn't want anything to eat. Now, that alone is an odd thing, because Hunter nearly ALWAYS wants sweet things to eat. He was riding on Daddy’s shoulders, and he was very quiet. Almost somber! How weird.

But once we got inside and sat down, he became so excited to see the clowns and kept asking and asking and ASKING about them. “When are them coming out? Where are them? When are them coming out? Where are them?”

Three year olds tend to lack originality and a solid grasp of grammatical form in their questions. But, boy! It sure is charming.

When the circus finally came out, the clowns appeared. And they weren't all that great, in my humble opinion, but then again, I’m not three. Hunter sat in my lap perfectly still staring at everything with his eyes wide and his mouth open. He was so quiet the entire time!

Then, two dirt bikes came out. Or maybe they were mopeds. Who knows. I’m not a motorcycle aficionado by any stretch of the imagination. But they were red. And I am quite the expert when it comes to my colors.

They drove right into the huge METAL! BALL! CAGE! Otherwise known as … the “GLOBE!” of “DEATH!”

Hunter loves motorcycles. He’s fascinated by them to the point of distraction to where we can be talking to him in the car, but if there is a motorcycle next to us, we've lost his attention. I thought he’d love these stunts. Instead? He was frightened by them. Poor baby!!! He kept hiding his face in my chest. Hunter is a very sensitive child, and loud noises frighten him. This was NOT something he was enjoying.

But not everything was loud. I think he really enjoyed the “Dogs and Pony Review,” the “Aerial Ballet on Streaming Silks,” the jugglers, the elephants and the camels. He did not, however, enjoy the Wheel of Destiny (a man running around on a huge hamster wheel).

He didn't care for the high-wire walkers – especially when they jumped rope on the wire and one lost his balance and fell, straddling the wire. I think that pretty much scared him silly.

I think we stayed about 10 minutes into the second act. Long enough to watch two women hang from their hair and do tricks in mid air. That’s when my evil side got the better of me, and I whispered in Hunter’s ear: “Can mommy do that to you? Hang you from your hair and twirl you around so you can dance in the air?” Ugh. Why did I say anything? WHY? Because, suddenly, he had had enough. He didn't want to listen to mommy tease him about hanging from his hair. His senses were overly stimulated and had gone into overload. He informed us he wanted to go home. NOW.

Which in retrospect, turned out to be a gift from God, because we no sooner made it out of the big tent and into the parking lot when we heard a loud boom, and then, an even louder, huge boom – I’m assuming the second one was the human cannonball they advertised. If Hunter had stayed for that, I think it may have driven him completely over the edge.

The entire walk back to our car, Hunter kept saying, “I don’t like the circus. I don’t want to come back to the circus. I don’t like the circus. I don’t want to come back to the circus.”

I don’t blame him. He had bad dreams last night, my poor baby! I don’t want that for him, either!

I hope he won’t need professional counseling to overcome his fear of circuses!

We may need to evaluate a little closer what we consider to be "fun and exciting" events!!