Fountain-frolicing at the Market! Market!

That Saturday get-away of ours got me red-nosed and sniffing since Monday morning. I guess really could not stand the heat of the sun for too long. Taking open-door/window rides on a very humid and dusty day pisses my lungs. But it was fun, really. My son had his metro-train ride the second time. The funny thing is, the little tyke expected the train to go up a mountain and reach North Pole just like what he saw in the movie The Polar Express. He has seen that movie like a gazillion times! But luckily, he didn’t make a fuss out of it. We simply explained to him that this train will only traverse the “road”/Edsa. He quickly nodded, “ah…” and rolled his eyes and probably thought how long that “road” is, or what it’s like way further. We just let him wander for a moment in his imaginary train world.

After lunch, we dropped by the church only to find out that office hours start at 3pm. We proceeded to Market! Market!, a shopping mall, park, playground and a whole lot of everything in one place. When the little tyke saw the dancing fountain, he was amazed by it that we stayed only at that part of the mall the whole time. He was running around the grill that surrounds it - “railways” as he calls it. He probably made twenty loops, yelling “chagga chagga choo choo! chagga chagga choo choo!”. Being an only child, my son is used to playing alone, in his own wonderland. While my son frolics and later joins other kids, me and hubby zip our frappucinos to keep our eyes open while the kiddo joins a battalion of his kind.

Hubby left by 2:30pm to go back to the church and get the document. The little tyke is still restless, finally deciding to get his clothes wet and really enjoy the waters. Some bystanders were amused by him because he was like “the last tyke standing” there; the rest of the kids have already given up, or were already tired. Good thing, I brought with us a set of changing clothes. I explained to him that after changing into his fresh clothes, he can never go back to playing at the fountain again, some other day perhaps. Am I surprised that he didn’t again make a fuss out of it. Oh my gosh, my son is maturing! He’s not anymore the bratty terrible-two who tested the hell out of me several months ago. However, when we were about to leave the mall, we have a little bit of an argument. I said we have to ride on a jeep to get to the train. He said he wanted to ride the train – right away. So I had to explain to him that the train is way too far we had to ride on a jeep first to get to the train. It took me around 10 agonizing minutes to make him understand that. Finally, I used an easier technique. I told him, I’m going to the train, I’m gonna ride the jeep and then the train. He was teary-eyed, then later took my hand and told me he will also take the jeep. I know it’s a little bit of blackmail, but talking logical with a (almost) tantrum-stricken toddler is not the greatest solution at that time, either. It took a whole lot of patience and courage. But, whew! That was such a relief. And so we met his dad later at the train station with a cheerful mood.

And you thought he was already dozing off at the bus on our way home? Not a slim chance! Despite the heavy traffic along the coastal area, my son was very excited to talk about his experience earlier that day. And he was prancing here and there and singing his fave songs “Hot-cross buns, ABCD…, and Twinkle, twinkle, little star”. Although it was a little exhausting, that get-sway was such a very happy experience for the three of us. Later on, I got a headache and never got to join the poker game at our cousin’s that night. The next day, I’m having a stuffy nose.