Amusement 3 X 6 = 0

On Saturday I took my six-year-old Daughter and two of her friends to the local amusement park. I'd never been there before and didn't really know what to expect. I'd been planning on going last year, but like most Swedish amusement parks, it's only open in the summer, and by the time I got around to it, they had closed. Unfortunately the wonderful weather we'd been having last week didn't last, so it was relatively cold (upper 60's/18-20 C) and windy. This was especially disappointing since the highlight of this place was the water slides. I love water slides, but I hate freezing, so I was quite torn. As it turns out, the decision was made for me.

The two friends D chose to invite couldn't have been more different in temperament. One of them (S) was even more wild and adventurous than my own kid (I hardly believed that to be possible) while the other (K) was extremely cautious. D and S took off for the water slides while K paddled tentatively around one of the pools. A few minutes later D and S returned, announced that they were freezing, and said we should go warm up in the sauna (S knew about this since she'd been there before). 30 seconds later, K emerged and said she didn't like the sauna--she couldn't breathe. I was still trying to figure out what to do with all our stuff (no lockers), so K and I ended up sitting together and watching the stuff while D and S had a blast.

When rain seemed eminent, we dried off and went over to the rides. There were about a dozen carnival style portable rides set up along with a couple of inflatable jumping areas. One of the rides was clearly only for adventurous teenagers, and a few more were for toddlers. I'd been looking forward to roller coasters (maybe not Magic Mountain caliber), but the one roller coaster they had was so tame that after careful observation, K was convinced to go on it. The higher speed rides all involved spinning which I cannot handle. K was not about to try either. So D and S rode a marathon of teacups from hell while K and I waited. I tried to talk the kids into alternating between rides that they all could go on and the ones that only D and S liked, but that didn't always work so well. I'd had high hopes for the bumper cars, but it turned out that only D could drive. S and K couldn't seem to figure out the steering and the pedals and found the experience frustrating.

There were also some farm animals to look at, an obstacle course, and several old fashioned playgrounds in different themes. It's a shame they can't keep this part of the park open the rest of the year. Obviously people wouldn't be interested in paying the normal admission price for a playground, but then, the staffing needs and overhead would be minimal also.

By the time I dropped the kids off at home, I'd spent over 7 hours with them. D and S had a great time, and K claimed to have fun too. I got to know K a lot better and discovered that she's really an interesting child. She has keen powers of observation, and she's so conscientious with her things. The other girls would kick off their shoes and throw their sweaters as they ran, but if K took off her sweater, she immediately folded it and put it in her bag. I would never have thought a 6-year-old would even be capable of that. She's also the only 6-year-old I know who would ask if she had ketchup on her face, wipe and repeat until it was all gone.

So while it wasn't a particularly amusing day for me, I do consider it a positive experience. Next time, we'll only go if it's warm enough for water play, and we'll bring our own food and no more than one friend.