Will Land: 0 out of 5 Stars. Don’t Recommend.

I have to thank this mom on Threads for making me laugh yesterday:

It reminded me of my adventure in Will Land.

My youngest, Will, was the most hilarious, creative, and nutty kid I’ve ever met. When he was six, he created his own rewards system FOR US, his parents. If we were nice to him, he gave us Will Bucks. But if we scolded him we were sternly handed a Will Bill.

One night he announced that we had earned enough Will Bucks for tickets to Will Land. (That’s a photo of my ticket at the top of this post.)

Will Land was themed after his stuffed penguin, Gummy. It had lands in different parts of the house called Fish Village, Old Feather Village, and Gummy Loses His Flippers Land. It was the cutest thing ever! Until it wasn’t.

Will Land came with rules, and it was against the rules to share them. All I could glean was that I was supposed to search for his stuffed animals that he had hidden all over the house. He handed me a pencil and a piece of paper to write their names down when I found them.

I have to confess, I thought he oversold the entertainment value of his amusement park.

Things were going ok until I couldn’t find Chuck (Charlie Brown). I was getting tired of this game and asked for a hint.

“No, that’s against the rules.”

So I kept looking, as he followed me around with an expectant smile on his face. At least he thought it was fun. But for all my searching, there was no sign of Chuck. So I asked again nicely.

“NO! That’s against the rules! You have to find him on your own.”

I wanted to end my visit to Will Land. He insisted that was also against the rules. So I begged for a hint. Things fell apart pretty quickly.

My trip ended with him laying prostrate on the couch, in tears, wailing, “You’ve ruined Will Land! Will Land was supposed to be fun and you’ve ruined it!” 

Here’s the thing though: it wasn’t fun. Ever. But it was adorable. I was sorry it didn’t work out the way he’d planned.

I didn’t love it at the time, but it’s one of my favorite things he did as a kid. Sometimes we joke about our trip to Will Land. I miss that funny little guy and his Will Bills, decorated with angry looking stick figures. Now he’s a teen who never gives me a minute of trouble. Really! He’s pretty perfect. And he still makes me laugh.

Have a great week!