A few weeks ago, I went on a nursery field trip as chaperone for my younger sister Tisay. Looking after a four year-old girl the entire day all by oneself can both be tiring and enjoyable. Most of the attractions are geared towards the amusement of toddlers, so it can be a bore sometimes.

The first destination was a puppet theater. That was quite boring. The second destination was a Pizza Hut branch in SM Mall of Asia where the kids were made to “make their own pizza”. They were actually just herded inside, while parents and guardians waited outside the mall, and were made to place ham and pineapple pieces on ready-made dough with tomato sauce. After lunch, we were taken to a large warehouse in Paranaque owned by a pet shop company. The huge compound was transformed into a cramped-up zoo environment with fishes, dogs, cats, and different birds and reptiles in cages and tanks. It looked like cruelty to animals for me. All the kids were given goldfishes in plastic bags, after the tour, regardless if their families owned aquariums or not. It was a death sentence for most of those fishes. I asked Tisay if we could give out our two goldfishes instead, since we don’t have an aquarium at home.

The last destination, surprisingly, was where I quite enjoyed. It was a big three-storey maze-like indoor playground in Alabang where the kids are let loose to play. They let in the parents and guardians too, and I felt amazed going around the play-structure myself, with about a hundred kinds running about screaming with joy.

Aside from Tisay’s vomiting incident in the bus and a few bouts of tantrums, the chaperoning went well.