I am a working single custodial father of a wonderful 3 yr old boy named Michael. There are no words to truly express my love for him but this blog is my attempt to document our lives in hopes that he may someday have a chance to read the joys and laughter that we shared together.Along the way, I hope that I may be able to pass on some things I've learned and observed as a single parent; things about parenting, the ups and downs of single parenthood, the emotions experienced watching Michael grow from a baby to a toddler to a boy and, some day, into a man.
A trip to the Atlanta Zoo
Posted 05-07-2008 at 10:51 PM by Singleparentdad
This past sunday was a beautiful day for a day in the sun. 
The night before, my 3 yr old son, Michael, and I had talked about where he wanted to go the next day. He said he wanted to go to the place where he takes his shoes off and bounces around...I had to think for a minute then realized he meant Monkey Joe's (indoor playground of inflatables). So off to bed with a promise that we'd go to Monkey Joe's the next day.
Sunday came and off to IHOP we went for some pancakes, egges, and sausages. As usual, he finished his sausages and took all of mine off my plate...sheepishly saying "thank you for sharing".
After breakfast it was such a gorgeous day that I thought I'd give Michael a choice..Monkey Joe's or the Zoo to see animals. He chooses to go see the "amimals".
We get to the zoo and the parking lot is packed. We had to drive around for 15 minutes looking for a spot with Michael pointing to every nook and cranny saying "there's one"!
Once inside the first thing he wants to do is get ice cream! Folks smarter than I obviously strategically placed those ice cream stands right by the entrance. So we get a cup of dipping dots and proceed to the exhibits...rhinos, gorillas, lions, girraffes, elephants... Michael spends about a minute looking at each one then takes off to the next. I'm looking at other people standing there staring at each animal for what seems like an eternity and trying to lure Michael back to look at it some more! Finally I give in and let him set is own pace with me running after him down one path or another.
Then he sees something that catches his attention..the petting zoo! Despite having to navigate through the place to avoid the animal poop, it was the perfect photo op! ..the smell was obviously something else...thank goodness they had a wash stand with anitbacteria soap.
We then hit the choo choo train ride ..the carousel..the playground (with Michael saying "biggest one I ever seen!").
By this point, we were getting pretty hungry so we grab some pizza. As we are sitting there, I see other families..I look around to see if I see other kids there with just their mother or father. I don't see any but do see a lot of mothers and fathers with their kids. Seeing that shoots a slight pain through my heart..and I look over to Michael and ask him "are you having fun Michael?" He looks up at me with a huge smile and says "I love it! let's go see more jungle!". With that, he is off down another path with me doing my best to keep up...
The night before, my 3 yr old son, Michael, and I had talked about where he wanted to go the next day. He said he wanted to go to the place where he takes his shoes off and bounces around...I had to think for a minute then realized he meant Monkey Joe's (indoor playground of inflatables). So off to bed with a promise that we'd go to Monkey Joe's the next day.
Sunday came and off to IHOP we went for some pancakes, egges, and sausages. As usual, he finished his sausages and took all of mine off my plate...sheepishly saying "thank you for sharing".
After breakfast it was such a gorgeous day that I thought I'd give Michael a choice..Monkey Joe's or the Zoo to see animals. He chooses to go see the "amimals".
We get to the zoo and the parking lot is packed. We had to drive around for 15 minutes looking for a spot with Michael pointing to every nook and cranny saying "there's one"!
Once inside the first thing he wants to do is get ice cream! Folks smarter than I obviously strategically placed those ice cream stands right by the entrance. So we get a cup of dipping dots and proceed to the exhibits...rhinos, gorillas, lions, girraffes, elephants... Michael spends about a minute looking at each one then takes off to the next. I'm looking at other people standing there staring at each animal for what seems like an eternity and trying to lure Michael back to look at it some more! Finally I give in and let him set is own pace with me running after him down one path or another.
Then he sees something that catches his attention..the petting zoo! Despite having to navigate through the place to avoid the animal poop, it was the perfect photo op! ..the smell was obviously something else...thank goodness they had a wash stand with anitbacteria soap.
We then hit the choo choo train ride ..the carousel..the playground (with Michael saying "biggest one I ever seen!").
By this point, we were getting pretty hungry so we grab some pizza. As we are sitting there, I see other families..I look around to see if I see other kids there with just their mother or father. I don't see any but do see a lot of mothers and fathers with their kids. Seeing that shoots a slight pain through my heart..and I look over to Michael and ask him "are you having fun Michael?" He looks up at me with a huge smile and says "I love it! let's go see more jungle!". With that, he is off down another path with me doing my best to keep up...
Total Comments 0
Comments
Post a Comment
|
Recent Blog Entries by Singleparentdad
- A Great day of fishing! (08-11-2008)
- My little monster truck driver and a thanks to the Chinese people... (08-05-2008)
- Single parenting and blurring of the traditional mother/father roles (07-23-2008)
- Birthday parties (07-23-2008)
- Public school vs private school for toddlers (07-22-2008)
