Why We Shouldn't Take Kids to Amusement Parks

Another beautiful Thursday afternoon. I decided to be adventurous, despite my slightly sore throat, and go somewhere new. I decided on the Children's Recreation Centre (highly original name, I know) which I had read good things about on an online parent's forum here. Super cheap to get in (less than $1 Cdn), and all the rides are 20 NT each. You can't even go on little rides in the malls in Canada for less than a loonie, but here you can go on a ferris wheel, merry-g0-round, little train, twirling teacups, flying swings, bumper cars and a few other little rides for 67 cents Cdn each (at today's exchange rate). There's also a large area with four or five different playgrounds with different themes that are completely free.

I knew which MRT station to get off, and I saw a sign pointing towards the entrance. What I didn't know was that this place was huge. The amusement park section is only a little part of it. There are two other large sections. One focuses on Chinese heritage and is like a historical village, while the other section is a huge science exhibition hall with a 3-D IMAX theatre. There are separate entrances for each section, and of course, I went in the entrance furthest away from the amusement park area.

I knew the amusement park area was down at street level as I had seen it before from the MRT. Everything else was on the side of a big hill. So we climbed up and up and up. Walked around the village a little. It was completely devoid of people. I would have liked to see everything, but looking through old Chinese houses and shops was not exactly Mikey's cup of tea. Then we walked all the way around the science centre and started our descent.

I don't know what it is about amusement parks, but as soon as Michael caught his initial glimpse, he turned into a hyperactive little boy who's favourite words became "I want!" He wouldn't listen to anything I said, and was just running here and there, not caring at all if I was still in sight, unless he wanted more tickets for rides.

We started with the Ferris Wheel, which moved a little too quickly for Michael's liking, but it gave me an overall view of the park, so I knew how to head him towards the playgrounds and away from the rides. My camera started flashing low battery after this picture which is why there aren't more.

Then we headed over to the train. It does a nice little round and goes through a pretty dark tunnel, lit only by a few strands of Christmas lights, so I was glad that I accompanied Michael on his first round. The next time I let him go by himself. He loved sitting at the very front of the train and yelling, "All aboard!" Another little girl also wanted to be the driver, but as soon as Michael clambered in beside her, she scrambled out as fast as she could and moved a few rows back. I guess white boys are scary.

Then we headed over to the playgrounds, but Michael saw the merry-go-round and insisted that we ride on it first. It was actually a double-decker merry-go round in order to fit more people at a time and Michael wanted to go up to the top level to ride. We were the only ones on it. After putting him on, the lady motioned me to get on too (as I had paid a ticket in order to accompany Michael), so I hopped on and off we went. I felt kind of silly as my feet could still touch the ground at all times, but Michael had fun. Then I told him we were out of tickets (which we were - I had just bought seven off of another mother who was leaving and had some extras) so it was playgrounds or home. Of course he chose the playgrounds.

We played for awhile. Bought some ice cream (only $15NT!) and a couple of hot dogs ($20NT each) which apparently did not include a bun as she just put the hot dogs in a paper bag for us. That was fine by me as Michael never eats his buns anyways, and I do not need the extra carbs. I have gained so much weight here already that my pants are getting quite snug. Either that, or the dryer is shrinking all my clothes... If only that were true.

Michael played some more, and then tried to go in the sandbox and steal other people's toys again. When I told him to get out, he refused so I told him it was time to go home and walked off. He took this to mean as he could now do whatever he wanted, so he turned his back on me and started getting himself covered in sand. Sigh. Went back and forcibly removed him, which of course triggered a crying fit of "You make me sad! You hurt my feelings!" which he does whenever we won't let him do something he wants.

We had to go past all the rides in order to get to the exit and I also needed to make him use the washroom before we left, which was right beside the bumper cars. I got out of that one by telling him that he wasn't big enough for bumper cars yet (there was a big sign saying that those under 100cm weren't allowed, even with an adult). I actually had no clue how tall he was, but I needed some excuse. (We measured him the next day at school and he's 107cm with shoes on). I told him how we grow when we sleep so he should sleep a lot and then the next time we come, when Daddy comes to visit, he'll be big enough.

This time I knew which exit to go out through so we wouldn't have to climb that big hill again. But, right by the exit are these two large slides that you have to climb 41 stairs to get to. (No, I did not count them. You can see that they're labelled in the picture).

Michael must have gone up and down those slides at least a dozen times and was still begging for more when I insisted we leave. Another tantrum ensued, but I wasn't about to give in. My throat was really sore by this point and I was tired.

Michael was too. I managed to keep him awake until we got on our bus. He cried all the way from the bus stop to our apartment, then straight to bed. I managed to get his dirty clothes off him and put on his nighttime clothes before he conked out for the night. It was 5:30 pm. He didn't wake up until 6:15am the next day.