Circus 101
When traveling with a baby you perceive all cities in a slightly different manner. Before we had Lia we would care very little, if at all, whether there is a puppet theatre or a circus in a town, how nice are the parks and if there a playground next to the place we stay.
Being honest when she was a little baby we would only sight and observe with jealousy other kids running around in the park. Before Lia could walk all these things were of little use to us, all we could do is wait. Finally things have changed, she started walking/running around 13 months and since then she completely abandoned her crawling habit. Now we are frequent goers to the parks and the playgrounds where she has the most fun by playing with other kids or actually more with their toys :D.
The fist carnival ride, the first zoo, the first circus – all these things we wouldn’t know about if not for Lia and I can say that these extra activities add a special charm to our stay and our overall experience of the country.
I will always remember our first circus in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Lia was just about to turn 13 months old and we thought it could be a good time for our first visit to the circus. Of course I went on Internet and checked other parents’ experiences. I saw that the biggest challenges for toddlers are to sit through the whole performance and not to get scared of the loud music. Since we have a traveler baby, we had nothing to worry about. To sit still for a couple of hours? Lia has hours and hours of experience in buses and trains. Loud music? Khohsan road in Bangkok, night markets in Chang Mai, party towns of Nha Chang in Vietnam and Sihanoukville in Cambodia…well, pretty much everywhere we go there is music, loud music, so a little bit of actions wouldn’t scare our little baby, we were sure of it!
And of course we were right! Our first circus was a complete success! Lia loved it and Jose and I loved it too!
The program featured a few crocodiles and an absolutely charming brown bear, monkeys, as well as trained cats and dogs, gymnasts, clowns and other performers. We bought the 3 row tickets so that Lia could see the animals well and it was the perfect choice. She was overwhelmed with emotions, clapping and laughing with other kids. No doubts her favorite acts were those involving animals and the acts with rhythmic music so that she could dance sitting on my lap. It was all fun, especially in the first act. During the second act Lia was getting easily distracted and was more interested in the children around her than in the crocodiles. Anyway, she was having a good time!
It was a good day, full of joy and positive emotions and I believe that it is a long-term traveling experience that allowed our little girl to enjoy it at such a young age. She didn’t cry once but sat through the whole performance, wasn’t scared of loud music and tons of people around just because she experiences it all everyday in our travels.
I agree that a six years old kid probably enjoyed the show more than our 13 months old Lia but well, it is just a beginning and we are looking forward to more fun kids activities! For now I can say that Lia passed her first circus-test with an A++!