Little Angry DollTaronga Zoo and the Short Eared, Trunkless Elephant
September 10th 2006 12:25
Lies we tell our children.
When I was small, my parents told me that the Easter Show was only held in Sydney once every three years.
"Can we go to the Easter Show?"
"I'm sorry, sweetie. It's in Melbourne this year."
Worse, I have a friend who was lead to believe that Mr Whippy only played music whe he had run out of ice cream.
We spent days telling Number One Son that we were going to see the elephants at the zoo. They are his very, very favourite.
“Where are we going?”
“To the zoo!”
“And what will we see?”
“The elephants!!! They have big ears and long trunks!”
“Do they?” we asked.
“Yes!” the emphatic reply.
You know how it goes.
We followed the elephant signs down to their new enclosure, getting more and more excited with every step.
We saw the giraffes and zebras, which are his very, very favourites, but we were still looking for the elephants. We watched the otters, his very, very favourite, dive and swim underwater while the keeper fed them fresh prawns, but we were still looking for the elephants. The lion was asleep, but that was alright, because the lions are his very, very favourite and the elephants were going to be awake.
We didn’t have the heart to tell him that upon arrival, we’d discovered that the old elephants had been retired and the new ones hadn’t arrived yet.
Then we came across the rhinoceros. He squealed with delight.
“Elephant!!!”
“Yes, son. That’s the short eared, trunkless elephant. They are very rare and only here for a short time.”
“I love the short eared elephants. They’re my very, very favourite!”
When I was small, my parents told me that the Easter Show was only held in Sydney once every three years.
"Can we go to the Easter Show?"
"I'm sorry, sweetie. It's in Melbourne this year."
Worse, I have a friend who was lead to believe that Mr Whippy only played music whe he had run out of ice cream.
We spent days telling Number One Son that we were going to see the elephants at the zoo. They are his very, very favourite.
“Where are we going?”
“To the zoo!”
“And what will we see?”
“The elephants!!! They have big ears and long trunks!”
“Yes!” the emphatic reply.
You know how it goes.
We followed the elephant signs down to their new enclosure, getting more and more excited with every step.
We saw the giraffes and zebras, which are his very, very favourites, but we were still looking for the elephants. We watched the otters, his very, very favourite, dive and swim underwater while the keeper fed them fresh prawns, but we were still looking for the elephants. The lion was asleep, but that was alright, because the lions are his very, very favourite and the elephants were going to be awake.
We didn’t have the heart to tell him that upon arrival, we’d discovered that the old elephants had been retired and the new ones hadn’t arrived yet.
Then we came across the rhinoceros. He squealed with delight.
“Elephant!!!”
“Yes, son. That’s the short eared, trunkless elephant. They are very rare and only here for a short time.”
“I love the short eared elephants. They’re my very, very favourite!”
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And can I add - I have been waiting for those elephants myself. I can't believe they aren't there yet. It is a sad story surrounding it though. It's been in the news of late and although I would love to pay them a visit with my little sis when they get here, I feel a little like the ignorant tourist taking photos and never thinking twice.
Well I suppose that's the truth.
Thanks for sharing.
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It's not like the one (well one of the many actually) that my mother told me once about a friend who moved away.
Basically when I was younger - about 11 or so, a very good friend of mine, a daughter of a minister who had moved house a few times with the demands of her father's job, moved house again.
My friend and I still wanted to visit each other after the move, but my mother told me that they had moved too far away to ever see and basically made comments to imply that they had moved to another state.
Years later, through a school reunion site - even though we had never gone to the same school - I came across her name and contact details and so initiated contact. We were both really surprised and glad to come in contact with each other after 20 years.
I then discovered that she had not moved interstate at all, in fact she hadn't even moved out of the city. In fact she was only about a half hour drive away. She actually had moved to a suburb where my husband works and travels to every day.
Needless to say that was one big lie I never appreciated - especially as I wasn't allowed to use the telephone to call her either.
So roll on short eared, trunkless elephant - that's the sort of thing that will eventually make sense one day.
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My little one is under four, so chances are he won't even remember the fake elephant.
Serious lies to children not good.
Comment by MelissaA
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I wanted to make a link to it from one of my posts for someone commenting about what children say in shopping queues in my "Are You Ready For Children" post, but now I can't seem to access it!