A Not-So-Wonderful Trip to the Park

We had been promising Brooke that we would take her to the park and today we finally had the opportunity. We do A LOT of long walks around our neighborhood (which often include a detour to the ice cream store down the road) and other outside activities, but the park kept getting passed off.

Anyway, going to the park was an ENORMOUS let down for John and me. We were truly looking forward to playing with Brooke and watching her soak up the fun around her but she wouldn't have it! She REFUSED to walk because the ground was "messy." She had shoes on so I don't get it. She also refused to go down the slides... first because she was "afraid" and then because rocks were at the very bottom. She looked at John and one point and said, "Clean the slide, daddy!" John patiently wiped off the slide and Brooke still required major coaxing to go down it. For goodness sakes, it was a toddler slide that couldn't have been much taller than Brooke. It's not like we were trying to make her go down the enormous slide next to her!

Let's see... She was also afraid to ride the horsies at the park, despite the fact that riding them is all she talked about all winter. She shook with fear when we even mentioned the see-saw, even though my parents took her on one a couple of weeks ago. She was actually content on the swings but she didn't want to stay on them very long at all.

I just don't get it! Going to the park is supposed to be a treat... Especially after being cooped up all winter. By the looks of it, you would have thought that we were bringing our daughter there for a punishment. We kept encouraging her to try new things and to do new things but she just would NOT budge. It was actually kind of sad! It's sure going to be a long summer if all trips to the park go this horribly!