Friday, June 23, 2006

We're Mean, Mean Parents

That's what Ben probably thought yesterday. We found out he does not like rides and he does not like amusement parks. We went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and the girls had a great time, but Ben did not. We made him go on a roller coaster which he did not like, and a scary haunted house ride, which he really did not like, but he wasn't wearing the 3d glasses so I thought I wouldn't be too scary without them, and besides, he's never been afraid of imaginary things. WRONG! We even made him go on a river ride with those big round rafts and he got soaked. Poor baby! He wouldn't even get on a carousel horse but sat on the bench with me the whole time. By the time we went out to eat at Cracker Barrel on our way home, he didn't want to even go into the restaurant, because he thought the darkened dining room was another ride. I feel guilty and I probably should. We're torn between accomadating him and letting the girls have a good time. I don't want to permanantly traumatize him, but we're going to Disneyworld in March, so some of our thinking is he needs to get over this a little bit. He used to like rides, so maybe this is a phase. I haven't been working on my ABA stuff like I should, but my mother's helper starts next week (I hope) so I'll be able to start everything (including potty training - I'm NOT looking forward to it) then. No word from FPG yet as to whether he got in.

1 comment:

Steve said...

We have this amazing little theme park here - Bonfante Gardens - it is perfect for kids under 12. My son LOVES most of the rides, but would not go anywhere near the roller coasters (and they are tiny). Well, we went to Disneyland in June and thought for sure we'd be doing a lot of "sitting on the bench" while the other kids ride most of the rides. Grant totally amazed us - he went on Matterhorn 3 times, Tower of Terror, and Indiana Jones!! If anybody had told me he'd do that before we left, I'd have laughed it off.

Keep trying. I agree that you don't want to force him on a ride, but he'll never try new things if he's not given new things to try.

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I'm a writer, calligrapher, bookseller, wife and mother to three teenagers.