Not every experience is a “success”; however, the more challenging experiences are just as important, if not more. I had planned on not writing a post about this particular experience, but having some time to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly, I think is worth sharing. This is certainly not the first of these rather epic episodes, and will definitely not be the last. It did make me realize how necessary it is to prepare for any new adventure in order to allow Dubbers to enjoy it, as he so well deserves.
A couple of weekends ago we, along with friends of ours, took Dubbers and their two children to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We had heard that Dutch was better suited for younger children versus Hershey Park. Phil and I were curious and a bit anxious to see whether Dubbers would enjoy this new kind of “park” and even ride some of the rides. We actually have an upcoming trip to Florida where we will visit Disney for two of the days, so this was sort of a “test run”.
Immediately upon walking thru the grand gates, Dubbers seemed excited and ready to explore. He even picked the first ride, appropriately called “Wonder Whip!” He then went on to ride rides with names like: Turtle Whirl, Off Road Rally, Duke’s Dozers and Leap’n Frogs. We were then waiting in line for a pretty innocent and quiet gondola boat ride when Dubbers decided this ride was not for him as we were about to board the boat. We then sat out on a number of rides and could tell that Dubbers had reached his limit for the day. We were so impressed with his participation earlier and the fact we got in about two good hours of enjoyment was well worth everything else.
We all spent the night in a hotel nearby and went to brunch before heading back to NYC the next morning. Lancaster, aka Amish Country, has several other attractions worth visiting, so we decided to stop at the Strasburg Rail Road, which is America’s oldest operating railroad. Dubbers loves playing with his toy trains, watching train cartoons, and has even taken a trip on Amtrak. So one would think he would really enjoy this, “ride through the tranquil Amish countryside.” Well let’s just say if you were a passenger in our car, the ride was nothing close to tranquil. From the minute Dubbers saw the large and a bit intimidating old steam train, he became unsettled and began to protest. Given we had already purchased tickets, we continued to board the train. His crying intensified but unfortunately it was too late to get off. The majority of the 45-minute ride was spent holding, consoling, counting (strategy to calm him down), a very unhappy, scared and frustrated Dubbers.
We are not sure what exactly it was about the train that caused so much distress. The cars were open-air, their were several loud whistles, but the sky was sunny and countryside we slowly rode through was beautiful. This was an experience that Dubbers did not enjoy; however, he got through it and in the end tried something new. Will we take him on another train ride? Definitely. We know now to better prepare him ahead of time and understand the next time may not be perfect, but there’s a chance it could be better.
Advice given to me by another mother who’s son was graduating high school was to expose Dubbers to as much as possible. If he has these experiences early on, from plane (and train) rides to just eating out at restaurants, he can develop a comfort level that allows him to not be restricted in anything he, or we as a family, want to do. I am already planning strategies for two upcoming trips and will share in future posts.
