"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard hard work you already did."..Newt Gingrich
My blog is one week old today!! I'm really enjoying writing it! I appreciate all the views here - keep coming back! It's still a "work in progress" and I'll continue to work on it often. Please email me (see my profile for email address) anytime with comments, or comment directly into the blog - I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong, and right!!
On Sunday, we went to Canada's Wonderland! It was our third visit this year already and we loved it. I've loved Wonderland since I was a grade nine student and fondly remember being one of the first school groups to visit the park when it opened in 1981 - 30 years ago! The three "big" roller coasters back then are still in the park today - Wild Beast, Dragon Fire and the Mighty Canadian Mine Buster. Though there are so many more choices today, the Mine Buster remains a pretty cool ride! (in my opinion).
Getting our Wonderland seasons passes on opening day has been a family tradition since our kids were 4 and 2 years old. We couldn't wait to take them and hoped they would enjoy it as much as we still do. Of course the fun part of being a parent is re-living parts of your childhood over again. Unfortunately, our first few experiences were anything but fun! Our son wouldn't go through the turnstiles to enter the park, he would scream and hold his hands over his ears. Then he protested getting his hand stamped, we used to have to hold his hand down, get it stamped, then lift him over the turnstile all the while kicking and screaming. By the time we got in, we were so exhausted, we were ready to go home (and possibly never return!).
But we persevered and eventually he started to like Wonderland enough that he was entering both happily and easily. He knew that gaining access to his two favourite reinforcers (roller coasters and cotton candy!) was contingent on him entering the park properly. Hey, we were using some ABA principles back then and we didn't even know it! Oh, but it was not exactly smooth sailing once we got in...it was the waiting in line that presented us with even bigger problems. Our son would race to the front of his favourite rides and then drop himself to the ground in a tantrum when told that he has to wait at the back of the line. This was sheer torture for all of us! I remember around this time a family informing us that because he has a disability, he could be given a special Wonderland pass that would allow us special consideration i.e. we would no longer have to wait. Oh that idea sure was tempting, but we declined and we're happy we did. After all, waiting is a necessary life skill that must be learned, as we spend a considerable amount of our life in that as Dr. Seuss calls it, that most useless place..The Waiting Place...for people just waiting:
"Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come or a plane to go, or the mail to come, or the rain to go, or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow, or waiting for a YES or NO, or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break, or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting." Got to love Dr. Seuss!
He eventually did indeed learn to wait for his turn - with lots of practice! Luckily, those roller coasters were so motivating (ABA again!) that learning this skill was possible. Never try to teach waiting in a grocery store lineup - how boring!
I have heard the roller coaster often being called a "metaphor for life", you know life is full of ups and downs and twists and turns, which of course is so true. If you think about it though, how boring would life be if it were all ups and no downs, just stuck up in the clouds forever. Life is life, it's not some kind of suspended animation. I'd say you've only got one ticket, so you better enjoy the whole ride!
Nostalgia for today... I tried to find a tv family enjoying a day at the amusement park - here are the Brady Bunch..toward the end of the clip they are riding the roller coaster - Enjoy!
I would love to hear your Wonderland experiences or strategies you've used to teach your kids how to wait patiently.
Cheers!
Linda
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