Biggest ways the children have been thrilled or surprised?

[wanderings]

With presents, outings, or telling them something mind-blowing? And have they ever been really astonished by something that seems ordinary to us? I was once with some children who were utterly thrilled by the London Underground, especially the long escalators, and when it suddenly goes above ground. I think they enjoyed the tube more than London itself!

My oh took our ds to see a professional football match for the first time...my ds was amazed by the size of the stadium.

My 3 year old was beside herself when we went on the top deck of a London bus recently.

My Harry Potter-mad niece believed in magic for some time, and was delighted when a friend of her mum convinced her that even though she was a Muggle, she could Apparate (disappear, and instantly appear somewhere else). He got her to jump off a low stool a few times with her eyes closed, and to imagine that she was Apparating.

Then he told her that she would Apparate for real this time: he pointed out the stool at one end of the room, and the spot where she would appear, right at the other end. He blindfolded her (because the world goes all funny and scary when you Apparate), spun her round and led her to the stool, helped her to stand on it, warned her not to peep or she might get Splinched, and then told her to jump off. When he took the blindfold off her, she saw that she was standing on the ground, a long way from the stool. Her open-mouthed face was a picture, she really believed it!

(He wouldn't do it again the same day, but on other occasions, he managed to do this trick a few more times before she worked out how he did it!)

We have done a few surprise holidays to places they have really wanted to go.

Waking them up at half five and saying get dressed we're off to ..... is brilliant!

I did a dinosaur swamp bath - decked out the bathroom in a volcano, swampy ground, dinosaurs, green water, and a choc milkshake as swamp drink. Lots of leafage and a fizzy bath bomb. DS’s face was a delight! He still talks about it.

Didn't tell them we were going to centreparcs until we were getting in the car. Didn't tell them we were getting married until we were getting in the car. (Simple registry office job with them and a witness).

When DD was about 5 she had a jumper with a central front pocket for both hands to go in. This absolutely amazed her.
Luckily my DC are easily pleased and (aged 9 & 6) jump up & down with excitement fairly often. Last weekend, 6yo DS was beside himself as he got to see his uncle and go to the cinema on the same day.

When DD was about 5 she had a jumper with a central front pocket for both hands to go in. This absolutely amazed her.

That's funny. When my DS was five he had a GAP sweater with the same front pocket thing which he absolutely adored!

I love surprising DS2 with days out - still remember his face when I took him to The Forbidden Corner without saying where we were going (fantastic day out for all age kids and adults BTW - highly recommend it to everyone I meet!).

I have to be more careful with DS1 as he has always hated surprises (suspect SEN related?). But he does like it when he gets an unexpected meal that he loves put in front of him

Also, on a more trivial level, my kids saw me come in from the shop with some Pringles in my bag earlier. You'd have thought the queen had just teleported into the room, such was their level of amazement and excitement . They're easily pleased!

When we went to Hong Kong, we took our children to Disney Land, they knew they were going somewhere but not where, how my daughter missed the Mickey mouse heads on the road signs I don't know. The look on her face when she saw we were in Disneyland such a fantastic memory.

We did a really cheap trip to Eurodisney (from a newspaper) and DD, then 4, put her Snow White dress-up dress on for the parade at the end of the day.

The 'real' Disney Snow White spotted my DD, came over and curtsied to DD. My DD's eyes popped out of her head, turned to me in absolute bewilderment & utter delight.

It was fabulous (she's now 13 and still talks about it).

Wild woods camping with a peat loo!!
Not a street light to be seen or any neighbours!!
Dc loved it!!

Didn't tell dd1 we were getting a new kitten made her sit in the front room after school with her eyes closed and plonked a ginger pile of fluff in her hands wish we had videoed it
Dm did the same to me and db as kids with a puppy

I remember a family holiday where all 3 yr old DD talked about was the dead bee she’d found on the floor with some other children. Not the sea or beaches or eating out (all quite new for her at the time) but the dead bee...

She still talks about the amazing spaghetti bolognese she had in a cafe once. Kept saying how good it was at the time.

She was also bowled over by a little neighbour’s cat she made friends with on holiday. When the cat finally approached her and let her stroke it she was beyond happy.

Not really things you can deliberately recreate!!

DD2 was utterly awestruck when the Lions Father Christmas and his sleigh turned into our road the other week. Properly sparkly eyed and open mouthed.
DD1 was giddy the other day when she came home from school and I'd bought her some Christmas socks and an elf hat 😁

I surprised my teenage dd with a beauty advent calender this year she really wasnt expecting it as I normally moan that even chocolate ones are a bit expensive. But I saw one on special offer just after having sold something on ebay so thought I'd treat her. She was very pleased.

Years ago, when DS1 was 5, DS2 was 3 & DS3 was a few months old, we took them on a surprise trip to Disneyland Paris! We picked Ds1 up from school, with all the luggage in the car, and just said we were going for a drive. Which we did, just a long one! Even when we got on the ferry he still thought we were just going to France, which is still exciting! The look on their faces when we arrived at Disney was priceless 😍

Going on the Docklands light railway and sitting at the very front and pretending to be the driver. Absolutely blew the mind of DS2 and 3, age 4 and 2 at the time 😊

My dd has loved Beauty and the Beast since being tiny. She's 'met' Belle at Disney a few times, all exciting.

But last year we went to dinner at the Beast's restaurant in one of the parks. She was in a yellow sun dress, and Belle ears. After the meal we 'met' the Beast in his 'study' and he asked her to dance.

This girl was 15 years old, a teenager. But oh my - it made her entire holiday. It's her best memory of any holiday she's ever had. She was transformed back to being that little girl who really believed, even if just for a few moments.

We told DS (2) that he had to go to bed early on Thursday because some elves were coming to do something magical. Over night we decorated the tree and in the morning we took him downstairs and his jaw dropped to the floor and he just said "oh wow oh wow oh wow" over and over again.

His face when a bowl of ice cream is presented to him in a restaurant makes me smile every time.

Everyone with their Disney stories are lovely. I'm 30 and still remember the first time I went and my mum and dad picking me up from school with the luggage in the car and driving us straight to the ferry.