A Rainy Day at the Zoo

by Sheila Leonardo
(Youngstown, OH USA)

When my youngest was a toddler we took the two boys to a zoo about an hour away. My husband and I figured that this would be a great day trip. The boys could look at the animals, we will be outside, and hopefully the day would tire them out for the drive home. The day comes and we had an overcast and rainy sky, the zoo was conducting construction maintenance, and about 25% of the animals were not available for show.

We still went and never regretted it. We were all in a place where our older son would run around if he did not feel like being pushed in the stroller or ride on my husband's shoulders. We were in the outdoors so if the boys wanted to be loud it would not draw attention to us. The toddler just sat back, enjoyed the ride, and pointed out all of the animals that he knew.

I found that taking the boys to the zoo at that age was one of the least stressful trips we all took. The boys got to be boys, the parents got to enjoy the day as well, and everybody had a nice, quiet car ride home.