Tuesdays With Tyler: Sesame Place, Sick Parents’ Style

Yesterday we took Tyler to Sesame Place for the first time.   Luckily I had my handicapped placard that got us pretty close to the park entrance.  We had reserved a wheelchair, actually we had to pay for it, which really irked me, because I have never had to pay for a wheelchair at any zoo, mall, any attraction, ever. With Sesame Street claiming to teach diversity, you would think they wouldn’t charge a person to use a wheelchair, which was $15.00.  If I wanted an electric scooter it would have been $45.00!

The first ride we saw Tyler begged us to go on.  It was easily the scariest ride in the whole park.  Grant pushed me over but then I saw that I was going to have to stand on line with everybody else!  I think I wound up walking more than being in the chair!  Anyway, Tyler did great on the roller coaster, I loved it, Grant was scared shitless.

We went on some other rides:

And Mommy and Tyler got to meet Elmo:

The park is divided into two parts, dry rides and wet rides.  I thought Tyler would go nuts over all the water slides they have but Tyler said he didn’t want to go on any water rides (half the park, we are all wearing bathing suits, we are toting around towels and changes of clothes). We had lunch and while Grant was getting the food I asked Tyler why he didn’t want to go on any of the water rides.  “Water is dangerous,” he said.  If you’ve read this blog before you know that Tyler has an issue with any body of water except the bath tub, only I don’t know why. There’s never been any incidents and it frustrates the Hell out of me trying to figure out what the trouble is.

All of the talking and showing him the fun water rides on the map wasn’t doing any good.  He wouldn’t even go into the baby water fountain that was right in front of us while we ate. Before we packed it in for the day we took in an “Elmo’s World” Live show which Tyler really enjoyed. We showed him “Sesame Street” and then Grant pushed me into the souvenir shop where I felt like a tired gimp as I was facing a wall while they picked out a tiny Ernie and an Elmo ragdoll.

Now it’s time to return the wheelchair.  I don’t know how I’m even going to walk to the car. I’m thinking of asking Grant to push me when I turn around and see he is crouching on the ground. I go over to him to ask him why he is doing that and he is babbling, not making sense, all I could make out was “Can’t see.”  I went to the nearest concession stand and asked them to get an EMT.  Tyler and I sit on the ground with Grant.  Tyler is acting like this is an ordinary occurrence. An EMT comes and says, “Did someone get that wheelchair for him?”  “Umm, no, he was pushing me in that one, I have Lupus”, I’m laughing nervously at the insanity of it all.

They get one for Grant and push us both to the far away First Aid.  They put him on a bed, he’s suffering from some sort of heat related issue, made worse by the meds he’s on.  We knew about that but figured we’d be getting wet all of the time so he should be able to keep pretty cool.  They give him Gatorade, put cool packs on him, check his vitals.  As calmly as if he was asking if he could have an apple Tyler says, “Daddy, are you going to die?”  I felt so awful but they gave him ice pops, stickers and toys to play with and he was okay.

After a while they declared Grant fit to go home and they wheeled THE TWO of us out to our car.  As I was being wheeled I mentioned to the EMT how much walking I had to do and she said, “Didn’t anyone tell you?  There is a special entrance for people in wheelchairs, you don’t have to stand for anything.”

So how was our trip to Sesame Place?  I’m still thinking about the answer to the question.

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About mamasick

Emily Cullen is a pen-name. I suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases which include Bipolar Disorder, Asthma, Diabetes and Fibromyalgia. I had battled Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis but there is no longer evidence of me having these diseases and my Rheumatologist has declared them to be "burnt out" of my system. I am separated from my husband, “Grant”. Our son, “Tyler” was born in September of 2006 and suffers from tics and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and is delayed in fine and gross motor skills. In my blog I seek to let sick moms know that they are not the only ones going through this, and to educate people about what can happens when one becomes catastrophically ill. I also strive to break down stereotypes of what a “Welfare Mom” is like. Anything that I have gone through due to being sick, is written on the pages of Mama Sick.
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