A Day At (In?) the Zoo

Madness. That is the word that most describes our day visiting the zoo. Growing up, I babysat for a family with six children every summer. I got them up in the morning, got them dressed, did their hair, fed them breakfast, etc., etc., etc. We traveled. We traveled across the country. We traveled locally. I did it then, I can do it now, right? Maybe.

I knew it was not a good sign when I saw a line of cars on the interstate all getting off at the same exit. This particular exit leads to one destination only, the zoo. We arrive. We get inside and for a moment I thought I was at Disney during peak season. There were people everywhere, young and old. I looked at the six children I was responsible for and said calmly "ok, should we get separated, meet your party at the gift shop....I will come get you." Wide-eyed, the children all shook their heads and said "okay." Madness, I tell you.

So, we began our journey through the sea of people. Really I do not think that my children saw one animal. They did, however, study the zoo map with a fine tooth comb. They can tell you precisely how many steps to take from the sea lions to get to the gorilla exhibit, I am positive. Thankfully, too, they can tell you the location of every restroom and just how long the line was to get in. Those maps were great entertainment for my crew. They studied them standing up and they studied them sitting down, every detail. And I made sure during each study period that they took note of the gift shop, just in case.

I should say now that the zoo was, in fact, quite literally a ZOO. I am several years old, I have gone to this zoo every year, several times a year, all of my life. I know it like the back of my hand as do my children. I have never, ever, seen it like it was yesterday. And, quite honestly, it was nerve wracking. At one point I even looked around and questioned the safety of the crowd....we were in a building literally standing shoulder to shoulder with what seemed like millions of people. And you may ask, why stay? Well, as much as I personally wanted to leave, the six children that I had in tow were having a ball. They were immersed in their maps, planning their next step knowing that the chance of seeing whatever we were going towards was slim. They were playing games as they skipped along and dodged the people surrounding them. They laughed as I delved into higher math by counting above 5 to make sure I had everyone accounted for. I was frazzled, they were happy....1 to 6, I figured majority ruled. At the end of the day, I felt relief. At the end of the day, Pryce felt happiness as he said "well, that was a lot of fun!"....one child even said that it was better than her trip to Stone Mountain. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was safe. And everyone was happy.