Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Day at The Museum

To piggyback on Melissa’s Target story (see A Needed Exorcism parts 1 & 2 here: http://randomthoughtsbymelissar.blogspot.com/), if you want to go to a place where you don’t feel like such a bad parent, go to the Children’s Discovery Museum! We decided to go on Saturday and Lexxa was being a holy terror before we even went inside. For some reason, she did not want to go in—I don’t know if she was scared or if she just felt like being difficult. So, needless to say, we were pretty frustrated before we even went inside, but we were there, so we weren’t going to turn around and go home! But once we were in there, everything was going fine and we saw a full array of what I’ll call “interesting” kids and parents. Let me run through the list:

1. While we were walking around, we noticed a child around 3 years old strutting around with bottle in-hand! If you can cruise around with a bottle with no problem, is that a sign that you shouldn't have a bottle anymore?


2. Ok, I don't know how you all feel about leashes or a maybe a more proper term, a harness for your children. I've always been against them, but as a parent of a 3 year old that likes to do her own thing so much, the prospect of her running away from me or getting lost in a large crowd has definitely made me think a leash would be convenient. However, I just can't bring myself to buy one...its my job when we are out and about to make sure that no one runs off and I've always got my eyes on the kids. With that being said, we saw a dad with a kid on a leash. This wasn't one of those cute harnesses with a monkey backpack, it was wrapped around the child's wrist and the dad was holding on to the other end. Ok, on to the story--we were in the bubble area at the museum, so things were a little messy and wet in the area. The child was laying on the floor on his stomach while the dad was holding the leash and talking to the older child. I don't think he looked back or even attempted to get the child up off the floor. At one point he even let go of the leash and the kid was trying to work his way up the stairs without his dad or the other sibling...yikes!

3. While in the bubble room, Lexxa was playing nicely in the bubbles when another little boy was playing next to her. He accidentally splashed her and it was really no big deal. The dad was very irate with his son and he scolded him and apologized profusely to me. After that, he walked over and brought me a towel to clean Lexxa up. The thing is, we were in the bubble area so it was expected that we might get a little wet and messy, but it was easy to clean up so no biggie. I appreciate that the dad was paying attention and that he cared, but it wasn't necessary to get so worked up about a little bubble splash in the bubble room.

4. Ok, last story, I promise. There was a closed off area for kids 4 and under. Lexxa wanted to go into the craft area and do some painting. She put on her fancy little apron and did some painting. After that, it was time for her to wash her hands. There was a small kid-sized sink in the room. There were probably three kids in front of her waiting to wash their hands. While she stood there patiently waiting her turn, one little boy went smashing through the line and squeezed his way in to wash his hands first, with no regard for the other children in line. The mother finally got to him and pulled him away after a minute or two. Then another little girl was using the sink before us--she wanted to play in the water and didn't want to move. The dad kept telling her to stop and dry her hands (and some other stuff in another language, so I'm not sure what else he said). So after all of that, it was Lexxa's turn...she washed her hands, got a paper towel and we were off! The funny part about it is that she just stood there staring at the other kids while waiting patiently in the line. I swear, she looks sweet and wonderful and she can be very polite and sweet when she wants to be, but sometimes the little devil in her comes out.

Here is Lexxa the way we love her to be--sweet and wonderful while painting.
And then there's Logan who is pretty much like this all the time...the mellow boy who just goes with the flow! So, the bottom line is that I know I'm not perfect and I know my kids aren't perfect and I'm sure there are many parents out there that might judge me for my ways, but sometimes it feels good to know that others aren't perfect either. It's uplifting for those of us that are parents and it's probably birth control for those of us that aren't!

6 comments:

  1. Lexxa looks so cute painting. She is always a sweet little angel...hehe

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  2. Damn, I got all excited thinking Lexxa needed an exorcism in the museum like Dylan. I, too, was always against those monkey harnesses and haven't bought one, I just look at them with jealousy. Glad you enjoyed your day! :)

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  3. I am totally buying my kid a leash. They are awesome!

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  4. Melissa and Dorothy's comments are cracking me up.

    Good job D'Amico's on having well behaved kids at the museum!

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  5. Trust me, she was in need of an exorcism that day...just not during the time that we were in the museum!

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  6. I can totally relate to your story, Jen. Sometimes Ashley or Alyssa would be holy terrors at home and then when we'd be somewhere other than home they'd behave SO well! And it never failed...someone would invariably say, "Oh, your daughter is SO well-behaved!!" or "I can't believe how SWEET (good, precious etc.) your daughter is" - and what I would WANT to say (but didn't) was, "You're talkin' about MY kid???"

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