We parents are always trying to give our kids cool experiences. We take them to events and places that we think are awesome and then sit back and wonder why they are complaining about all of the fun that they are supposed to be having. I mean, we know what is cool, right? We are cool people! And even if we are not (and we are not), we remember being kids and knowing what was cool. “I would have loved this when I was a kid!” you think to yourself. But you have not been a kid for a long time, and I don’t think you remember it as much as you like to think you do.
Now, I don’t want you to think that my children did not have a good time at the Tunbridge World’s Fair. They had an awesome time. But they certainly had a different idea of what was fun than I did. For instance, we took them to see an old schoolhouse, so they could see how kids had it hundreds of years ago. And we showed them an old printing press, some people weaving and making rope, and a blacksmith forging something long and pointy.
“Daaaaaaaad,” I heard as I tried to point out an old timey ice cream maker, “I’m tired of looking at old things!”
“But…but…but, don’t you want to see how people lived in the 1800’s?”
“NO!”
So we had to stop having fun and go look for snacks instead. And they had great snacks. That is one thing that people of all ages can agree on. And animals too. We sat on a hill watching all of the cool animals parade around the track, agreeing that it was really fun. And by “we” I mean the adults. The kids were rolling down the hill and climbing back up again, and then running over to the women’s restroom because it was built into the hill, so they could touch the roof from the back side of it. Isn’t that the most amazing thing ever?! They could touch a roof! And they are just kids! What a wondrous and magical place the fair is.
Thank goodness we brought along another adult to hang out with, since my friend Bleric Ack is in town, because kids are no fun. They do not like fun things. They like annoying things. And of course they wanted to play the games and ride the rides, but since I did not have $3000 in cash in my pocket, we could not do all of the things that they wanted to do. We did go up in the Ferris Wheel, which seemed fun at first until Edward realized that it was completely terrifying to three-year-olds. From there on out he only rode little kid rides, which we adults could not go on, but which he loved more than anything in the world.
There must be something here that we can all enjoy together, right? And by golly, there was, and we found it. Teenagers trying to get pigs to jump off of a ramp. I don’t think there is any age group that would not enjoy something like this. And on our way out we also saw a cool basketball stunt show, which I think everyone liked as well. The kids even got to hold two spinning basketballs on pencils.
In the end, we all had a great time. We parents loved the animals, the Ferris Wheel, the maple everything, and the trip back in time to a fun place in history. The kids loved running around in the grass and poking the women’s room. Truly a family event to remember. And next year we’ll come on unlimited ride bracelet day.