Today I took my Little Sister to the Zoo. I capitalized that not because I don't understand capitalization rules, but because she is my assigned Little Sister through the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program.
Now, let me be absolutely clear on something. I am not a Big Sister because it makes me feel all self-righteously pleased with myself for Giving Back to the Community. (Although I do feel that way, in the darkest depths of my being. Shush, Oh Self-Righteously Pleased Part of Myself. I don't like you!) I am not a Big Sister so that I can put that in my online profiles and people can compliment me on Giving Back to the Community (although they do). I am, in fact, a Big Sister because hanging out with a happy, cool kid is fun. Especially a cool kid who is appreciative of every opportunity to do something a little different, even if it involves slave labor helping Big Sister make ten dozen Christmas cookies. Not that I'd ever make my Little Sister do that, of course. Really.
So, day at the zoo. Timed it perfectly so that we arrived as most of the (insane) early birds were leaving, so scored a very decent parking place. The place was busy (as expected -- holiday weekend, great weather) but not so busy that lines were horrific. Michelle, as usual, laughed at all of my corny jokes. I love that kid. Some of the animals performed on-cue for our arrival (my own little snide commentary on zoos), although the big cats insisted on sleeping during the hot part of the day. A few around us were really pissy about it. As if their housecats were really alert and chipper at 4 in the afternoon -- get real!
The meercats were super-fun. The otters were engagingly playful. The sharks were scary. The snakes were creepy (and I kept hearing "Snake! Snake!" from the "badger badger" song... gee, thanks guys, for putting that one back in my head). The new aquarium there is sensational. The elephants are all preggers (except for, um, the Impregnator himself). The contrast of the giraffes with the Pittsburgh skyline behind them amused me as usual. All for $19 -- how can you beat that?
OK, so I grew up living ten minutes away from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, which, in case you have missed it, is one of the best zoos in the country. And in contrast to the Pittsburgh Zoo, which you can wander through all of in an afternoon, it takes multiple trips to cover all of Brookfield Zoo. Still, you can get through the Pittsburgh Zoo in a single, very relaxed afternoon, which makes it less internally stressful for me than Brookfield, which always leaves me with the sense that there's too much to see and not enough time to do so.
Still, makes for a delightful afternoon with a wonderfully appreciative kid, just old enough to be well-behaved and young enough to still show her enthusiasm. The weather was nigh-perfect -- sunny and topping out at about 82. Then finished it off with a Primanti Bros sandwich (a Pittsburgh staple -- it's better than it sounds. Really). What a day!
For the record, being a Big Sister is amazing. I recommend it to anyone who likes kids and is willing to put in a couple hours once or twice a month. It's immensely rewarding and fun and really requires very little time commitment. I don't feel as if I'm improving Michelle's life -- I feel as if we're enhancing each other's. She is equally happy doing basic things such as dinner and a film or renting a few videos and making mac 'n' cheese, as she is doing more "special treat" trips like the zoo, hockey games, the Ren Faire, etc. In the end, anything that gets her away from her normal environment is a treat for her. It's so much fun for both of us!
