Hello everyone! I am here again with another exciting story. Last week we went to the zoo. It was an amazing experience! It was my first time and I want to go there again. Mumma had been telling me stories about animals and how they live their lives in the forest, but I couldn’t see anything more than cats and dogs in my everyday life.

Last time when I was reading about wild animals, I told Dadda that I want to see them face to face. Dadda instantly said, we are going to the zoo this weekend. Mumma was a little reluctant, since it was my first visit to the zoo but she agreed quickly. I was so excited about the plan. Dadda checked the daily schedules for the local zoo on their website and got the map printed for our reference. Mumma said we will start early so that we can avoid the heat and sun.

Mumma plans everything in details whenever we decide to go somewhere – so she started planning what kind of clothes to wear, what things to carry, what snacks to carry, etc. She also told me that I have to be careful when I visit the zoo. I should stay away from the cages and I should not irritate the animals. We also decided which exhibits to visit by looking at the map. I told Dadda that I want to see the lion, giraffe, kangaroo, crocodiles, tortoise, zebra, birds and the hippopotamus! Mumma said we should also watch the birds. So we had everything planned right away!

Finally it was time to visit the zoo. We got up in the morning, Mumma prepared the breakfast and I finished it quickly and got ready quickly. Dadda drove us to the local zoo and I saw many other children waiting to enter the premises. The gates opened and everyone rushed inside! It was green inside and there was a weird smell! Dadda said, it was because of the animals. Mumma warned – don’t feed the animals anything, they are only allowed to eat special animal food.

We headed to the lion’s enclosure first. It was sitting right in the front. I was thrilled to see the lion alive! Dadda said see the mane on the face, the male animals have it; and the females don’t. That is how we differentiate between a lion and a lioness. Next we went to the see the kangaroos. ‘Oh see joey!’ – I said. He is so cute! Then we say turtles, snakes, rhino, monkeys, gorilla, elephants and many more animals. Then it was time to see the birds.

They were flying and chirping loudly. We saw macaws, parakeets, swans, ducks and a lot of other colourful and pretty birds. We clicked a lot of photos of the birds and the animals. It was all so exciting, but then I started feeling very tired. I wanted to see more, but I was unable to walk anymore.

Dadda said, we will come again and see the rest of the animals. I was a bit sad, but I wanted to go home. So we came back home. Now I know how the animals look in real and I can imagine how they live in forests. Next I would like to visit a forest and see the animals there.  I would surely ask Dadda to take me to a forest sometime.

Yes, that is what I said to mumma and dadda last night. I had been misbehaving with them for the past few days but I really didn’t understand. I shouted at mumma for not making my favourite breakfast and I behaved rudely with dadda because he couldn’t come home early and take me out. I had planned for a great summer vacations, but mumma and dadda became very sad due to my behaviour.

But they were very nice to me, no one shouted at me. I have seen many parents shout and hit their children when they misbehave or don’t listen to them. But my parents are so nice that they didn’t do anything like that. When I asked mumma, why they didn’t scold me, she said that would have worsened the situation. She said, they were nice to me, which is why I understood my fault and apologised.

Mumma attended a workshop where they taught parents about teaching discipline to their children (she told me) and there they said that parents should not yell or shout at children to teach them discipline. Rather they should stay cool and handle the situation calmly. She also said that she realised they were not able to give me enough time for the past few days, so I became irritated. All that I did was just to gain attention and nothing else. Mumma realised that and she spent some good time with me, which made the situation better. She also told me that parents have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders and they find it difficult to manage time. As a result they can’t give enough attention to their children, so instead of being irritated children should tell them about how they feel. Talking can solve many problems.

She also said that by staying calm, she taught me to stay calm. Mumma says, children do what they see their parents do, so in order to teach discipline to the children, parents should first become disciplined. Now I understand why mumma used to walk away whenever I started to yell and shout. I thought she was being rude to me, but now I understand why she did it.

She also rewarded me with my favourite chocolate, when I apologised for my bad behaviour. I was so happy! I know mumma and dadda love me very much! Now I will make sure that I never misbehave with my parents. Dadda told me that I should behave well with all the elders as well as my friends, so that everyone loves me. Even my teachers will praise me and reward me for my good behaviour. Now I can enjoy the summer vacations as I had planned it! Lots of fun with mumma and dadda and lots of creative things! I always tell my friends that I have the best mumma and dadda in the world and I love them so much! So I promise I will behave well!