A Terrible Tantrum

I hope I never judge another parent when I see their child throw a fit. You see, Evie had the tantrum to end all tantrums today. In front of GaGa and the kids. And Aunt Rachel. And a few hundred other people at the Magic House.

The day began innocently enough. We found the last parking spot available and headed in. First we played in the Baby and Me section on the baby gym, in the play kitchen, and in the little toddler boat. Evie was having so much fun!

Then we made our way into the Little Bit of Magic exhibit. I mean, WOW! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful place for children in St. Louis. Evie was entranced by a row of lights and switches of every variety. She must have stood there for 20 minutes, just turning the lights on and off. On and off. On and off.

Then we spotted a little secret mouse house. Evie opened the door, and we saw a mouse picnic, complete with cheese and 7-Up! She actually laid on the ground so she could see better!

Oh, and there was a kid-sized spiral staircase. I squeezed up after her, and there was a giant slide on top. So we spent the next 20 minutes going down and up the slide. (I have to admit, I slid down twice myself.)

And there was the sand box. We have a sand table at home, so you wouldn't think it would be that interesting, right? WRONG! This little hands-on activity caused the tantrum. Evie played and played and played until Aunt Rachel came to get us. Instant and very loud wailing.

Now, Evie has had tantrums before. But generally I can distract her with lip gloss or a drink or, God forbid, candy. Nothing worked. Evie was crying so loudly, flailing about, and pointing back to the sand exhibit. I tried looking in her eyes and speaking to her in a soothing voice. I tried pointing out other exhibits we passed. She was choking and drooling from crying so hard! She cried in the elevator and out the door. She was so sad looking, pointing back and begging "More, more, more!"

When we reached the parking lot, she noticed construction equipment and all the "diggers." That calmed her down a bit. It took a bottle of water, all to herself, to fully get her back to normal.

Evie already has a great love for the Magic House, and we didn't even see most of it. We really had a wonderful time. I hated to leave, too, but I was able to hold it together better than Evie! There is so much more to see and I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time there in the future. I'm adding a Membership to her Christmas list!