not good parenting

It's Halloween time again, and that means Boo at the Zoo. We decided to go last night. The kids dress up and go to various candy stations set up around the zoo. There are a few animals on display that aren't asleep, but the main attraction is the train ride.

Now if you've read either blog you know how much Andy loves trains. When we got to the zoo we'd already gone to Wash Pa during the day and ridden a few trollies. But he was still jonesing for more choo choo. So while we made the candy rounds through the zoo, he kept one ear on the train and reminded us that he wanted to ride it. As we walked under a bridge as the train sped by, he burst into tears because he thought he'd missed his chance. When we got to the station and waited in line, he again sobbed when the train left and we had to wait for the next one. I have a photo of him sitting on the bench in his skunk costume in tears and misery because the train had pulled away sans Andy.

Finally we were on this train. Andy was loving it. We went through the ostrich pen, in the dark. We went through the woods, in the dark. Awesome Mommy. Awesome Daddy.

Then the first group of guys came out of the woods wearing masks and screaming at the passing cars and passengers. Uncertainty.

The second group of guys came out of the woods. He jumped. I made the mistake of verbally acknowledging the fact that he jumped. (If you're not yet a parent, take note: if you don't verbally mention something, sometimes it can help avert disaster. Sometimes.)

The third group of guys did him in. He started to cry. People shrieked with horror/glee. He cried harder and clung to me like a tick. He buried his head in my coat and at the same time couldn't stop looking out into the woods in that fearful/obsessional way children do. Unfortunately at this point we still had another two-thirds of the ride ahead of us and I knew that more guys were lurking in the woods.

I tucked him into my coat and sung the Thomas the Train song to him. He finally stopped sobbing so hysterically and saying, "I'm scared Mommy!" I knew we had one more set of guys to go through though and I tried so hard to keep his ears and eyes covered. Of course it didn't work. He had finally calmed enough to ask me to keep singing to him when the last four guys came howling out of the woods.

And of course it started all over again. The sobbing. The clinging. The terror. The pitiful little baby voice saying, "I'm scared Mommy! I want to go home now! I want to go home now!"

Just awful. For the rest of the evening he was pretty quiet. He was visibly disturbed by a skeleton in a corner and he told his Meme all about the scary men in the woods when we got home. I was more than prepared for a 3am nightmare, but thankfully the bad dreams stayed away. For now.

So. I am officially the worst parent alive. I took my child on the train ride from hell, thinking he'd have fun and enjoy it. He was absolutely horrified. It was pretty much my worst idea ever.

I suck.