So last Wednesday Maeve participated in her first ever "class" at the Roger Williams Zoo. Just before 11 AM on April 9th, we arrived at the Zoo for "Toddler Trek" and the topic of the day was Frogs. I knew nothing about the Toddler Trek program in advance but it sure looked good on paper and I had been telling Maeve for a few days leading up to Zoo day, that soon we would go to the Zoo and learn about frogs. It sure sounded good to her. The weather was superb that day although the frog program was held inside in the Zoo Lab. We marched through the Birds of North America exhibit, stopping to talk to a couple of flamingos and then walked through the doors of the zoo lab. There were probably 10-15 toddlers in the room which was set up with little stations where the children could learn about frogs through reading, sounds, motions, textures, etc. We were promptly greeted by Mr. Chris, the moderator for the day and he explained to us that most of the 45 minutes would be unstructured, allowing us to roam around the room and interact with each other, and possibly some of the other kids as we learned together about different types of frogs. One look at Mr. Chris (who couldn't have been more toddler-friendly) and Maeve attached herself to my leg. After a struggle to peel her off, we sat down on a mat to read a book or two but Maeve was totally distracted by all of the other kids jumping around the room shouting "ribbit!" We slowly made our way over to the other stations, where again, Maeve couldn't be bothered with the learning tools in front of her and instead was watching the kids as if THEY were animal exhibits at the zoo. As I counted down the minutes to the "structured" portion of the class, Mr. Chris announced that everyone should begin to gather on the mats at the head of the room so we could do some "motion play" and then meet a real frog (something that I was hoping would have happened 30 minutes before it did). Mr. Chris got down on the floor and suggested that all of us (parents and toddlers) follow his lead and act out the life cycle of a frog in all its stages. As I watched him and the other children crouch down on the floor to resemble a frog egg, I began to assume the same position at which point Maeve had a complete melt down. Not only did she not want me to act like a frog, she wanted no part of it either. Mr. Chris wriggled around the floor like a tadpole and then squatted, then hopped as best he could, but all I could do was encourage Maeve not to cry and not to bury her face in my shoulder. The final push of toddler trek involved all the toddler participants receiving a certificate or "passport" for being a part of the class. Each kid lined up to receive their frog stamp and sticker from Mr. Chris, except my kid of course. So, at the end as Mr. Chris was doing a final check around the room to make sure he got everyone, I sheepishly raised my hand and said, "could we get our passport, Mr. Chris?" He welcomed us over to the mat and asked Maeve if she wanted a stamp. She said no at first, then changed her mind but didn't want Mr. Chris to do the stamping. He suggested that I should do it, so I willingly grabbed the stamp and moved toward her hand with it. She immediately, grabbed it from me and stamped the palm of her hand and I immediately grabbed it back from her which, of course, completely set her off. She began crying hysterically and wiped her eyes, of course with the stamped palm, leaving a green streak across her face. I told Mr. Chris that perhaps we'll just take a stamp on the certificate and be on our way. He very gently handed the passport over to you know who and welcomed us back any time. I responded by rolling my eyes and asking him, "do you realize what you're saying Mr. Chris?" But something tells me he has seen this sort of melt down more than a few times. We exited the zoo lab as quietly as possible, continued our meltdown outside for a few more minutes and headed home to await Dada's arrival so we could tell him all about our "adventure." I subsequently learned from a close and reliable source that many of the moms who attend toddler trek are "repeat offenders" if you will, or shall I say, Mr. Chris enthusiasts? Me however? I've got my own Mr. Chris and the poor guy's got me!
