Dozer Days

A couple weekends ago, Ethan and I were invited to go to Dozer Days with Ethan's friend Jason, his mom (Donna) and sister (Kara). It cost some money to get in, but Donna offered to pick-up the tickets ahead of time and we decided it was worth it. By the time we left, I thought it was worth it too... Had you asked me sometime in the middle, well, I would have answered differently.

Donna came and picked us up and we drove to the far southeast part of Vancouver, to the rock quarry. There was much excitement as we spied the large construction trucks, though the moms were very aware of how busy it was and how far away we'd have to park. Once inside, the first stop was a forklift that was turned off, but the kids could climb in. It was a hit!I knew this was exactly the kind of thing Ethan would love! Lots and lots of construction and work trucks, just like he loves to play. Surely I would be up for "mom of the year" award for this awesome outing... Yeah, it all pretty much went downhill from there. There were two huge rows of all different sizes and types of construction trucks for the kids to "operate" while sitting with a professional - lots of diggers, bulldozers and scoopers. We got in line for a digger truck and Ethan started to freak a little. He wanted nothing to do with the whole thing! I pulled Ethan out of line to check out a sandbox made inside two huge tractor tires and was unable to convince him to try out the digger. Even after Jason and Kara each took a turn. What the...?? Are you my kid?? What happened to my little boy that loves trucks?! But he wanted nothing to do with them and was even saying he wanted to go home. Tough nubs, kid. We paid to get in and we didn't drive. He was complaining that it was TOO LOUD. I could understand that. I don't think he quite realized what he was getting into and was more than a little overwhelmed by the loudness of all the trucks going, the amount of people and just the event in general.

So, once he finally calmed down, we determined that Ethan was interested in seeing a dump truck, so we headed that way with a pit-stop to run the recycle bin pick-up on the garbage truck.This put Ethan in an even better mood, and I gained some confidence that all hope was not lost in my "M.of.the.Y" award. Everything was going to be ok.....

We headed off to the dump truck area. There wasn't one that you could "run" but they were giving rides in the back of a dump truck filled with hay bales. Sort of a construction zone hay ride. Unfortunately, Ethan spied the huge crane first and wanted to try that. We got in the long line to ride the dump truck and while Donna went to get us all some kettle corn, I reassured Ethan we would try the crane as soon as we were done with the dump truck that he had wanted to do.

Oh. My. Heavens. The next 30 minutes or so are a complete blur of full Ethan melt-down. Whining. Crying. Dropping to the ground. Kicking. Wanting to be held. Oh, my. What happened to my little boy?! This was SO not the Ethan I know and love. Even on a bad day, this was nothing like Ethan. I couldn't understand. He kept whining about the crane, but I knew that couldn't be it. He doesn't usually have a problem with having to wait to do something as long as I explain what we have to do first. Even still, he continued to cry and throw a fit while we waited in line. I swear I tried everything. I told him we were all going to ride in the dump truck. I told him that Mommy would be right there with him. I told him that Mommy really wanted to ride and didn't he want to ride with Mommy? Nothing made a dent. Finally, when it was getting close to our turn and he still hadn't calmed down I got down on his level and really, really talked to him and asked him why he didn't want to get on. He told me he was scared! Scared?! So in my best Mommy tone I reassured him that there was nothing to be afraid of and I would sit right there with him. When that still didn't work, I told him we didn't have to ride if he really didn't want to. It wasn't until after our friends climbed on and Ethan and I stepped aside that he finally started to calm down as he realized I really wasn't going to make him ride. Whoa. That was an ordeal! The only thing I can think of is that riding in the dump part of the dump truck made him nervous since he knows that is the part that dumps. So maybe he was afraid we would all get dumped out. I don't know.

After all that, we got in line for the crane. It was a short line. Ethan climbed up and LOVED it!!!
We went through the line twice he loved it so much. And I was thrilled to see my little boy smiling again!!

After that, we thought we were pretty much done for the day, but Kara and Jason both wanted to do one more turn running a digger so we got in line for that. And then I got the biggest shock of the day... Ethan said he wanted to try it - specifically, the backhoe. Say what?!?! Again, are you my kid? The same kid who refused to try it just a couple hours ago? No way. But we got in line anyway and he was next up. The volunteer led him to the tractor and the guy helped him up. He was grinning from ear to ear!The volunteer even commented that that was one of the biggest smiles she'd seen all day! Ha!! Boy did we have them fooled!

And then we got in line for one more piece of equipment. A digger.

So we ended the day on a high note. Phew! The last couple stops were to check out the back of an ambulance, climb on the tire jungle gym and dig in the sand. Just enough smiles to help erase all the negative-ness from earlier in the day.
Pretty sure we'll be back next year!
{Oh, and I have to apologize - I got no pictures of Ethan and his buddy Jason... Too busy being a mom and dealing with the tears and melt-down. My brain was pretty much mush after that.}