no fun at the zoo

I have a question for the masses. Is age 4 better than age 3? From the parent's perspective? I hear about terrible twos, but I don't think two is so bad. Three on the other hand... has been much more challenging for me.

Here's what happened yesterday: We went to the zoo around 4 p.m. with grandma. The zoo closes at 5 but we have a membership, and the boys nap until 3 every day, so that's the earliest we seem to ever get there if we don't go in the morning. So we generally enjoy our hour and head out. Well, within minutes of arriving Ian falls and scrapes his knee. Apparently, this is the end of the universe. He screams and cries and carries on (I can't walk! I'm bleeding! No No No! Aaaaaaagh!) for the remaining hour we were there. When it first happened I picked him up and carried him for a while, feeling sympathetic and motherly. Then he asked to lie down, so I found a bench and let him. Big mistake. I should have gone on to the nearest exhibit and at least attempted to distract him with animals. On the bench (with nothing else to think about) he proceeded to defend his position that he was in fact bleeding ( he wasn't anymore) and could not settle down. I tried rationalizing with him. I tried sitting calmly but not interacting with him. I tried leaving him there to calm down with mommy around the corner out of sight. Grandma tried. Nothing worked. At this point I was feeling frustrated and irritated. He did eventually decide to stop crying and come to me around the corner, but as soon as I picked him up it started all over again. He carried on around the zoo like that. At which point I was pretty much feeling rage. Thank God for grandma who could push him in the stroller so I could walk away for a while!

For some crazy reason, neither of us realized that he hadn't had his snack before we left for the zoo!!!!! As soon as we got in the car and gave him something to eat he was much better. But still, whenever the knee has to be touched for a bandaid change or if he has to be bathed he screams this ear-piercing cry, that really provokes Matt and I. It is this way every time he scrapes his knee. There has got to be a better way!! Any ideas would be appreciated. Even if they don't work at least it would be something to try. He is a 3 year old little boy who is now wearing shorts and running around outside every day. Skinned knees will happen. I am at the end of my rope with his reaction to this!

At least at bedtime we had a nice talk once he was calm. In the moment of his panic at the zoo he'd told me he never wanted to go to the zoo again, and to leave him with a babysitter next time. (you know it is bad if my clingy I- man would rather be left with a sitter than go with me!) We talked about how we'd have fun next time because we'd make sure he had a snack and that mommy will never again set foot in the zoo without BAND-AIDS!! Ian's contribution to the plan: he will ride in the stroller whenever we go near the scene of the crime again. :-) After our nice chat he fell directly to sleep with me in a head-lock. (It started out as a hug, but ended up more like a head-lock.) What a goon.

Caleb's reaction to all the screaming: none. Even when it's right next to his head in the echo-ey bathtub, he goes on about his business, cheerfully splashing and grinning and enjoying life like he doesn't even hear it. If only I could react the same...