Get Your Culture On

We recently went with some friends to the local science and natural history type of museum. Even though there were replicas of millions-of-years-old dinosaur bones, the 2, 3, 4, and 5 year olds were my favorite part. A lot of the museum was over their heads (and a little boring), but everyone loves hands-on science!

Lifting Abbey using different pulley systems. Good thing she's so skinny!

Chad is shocked at how far a beach ball can blow with a gust of air!

Elliott and Jon make A LOT OF NOISE.

Discussing the most effective way to stop the water flow.

Abbey and Isabel cheese it up.

Sometimes I feel silly for taking my kids to places like this. I mean, they enjoy it, but they also enjoy playing in the sandbox in our backyard, which is free and allows me to sit and read a magazine. But! Then I think about my grandmother and I take my kids to do something cultural or educational. Let me explain. My Granmom is awesome, but I didn't always realize this. When we (me, my brothers, and cousins) were kids, she was not the cookie-baking-spoil-you-rotten type of Grandma. Instead she would give us chewable Vitamin C tablets, tricked me into eating pickled beets when I was about 8, and was just as strict as our parents when we were at her house. And she tried at every turn to, in my young mind, force "culture" on us. Classical music (including Civic Orchestra concerts where she was performing!) and museums were two of her favorite methods. Because of my grandmother I have been to not only the Science and History museum but also exhibits on Monet, Egyptian treasures, and more. We would have been just as happy sliding down the staircase at her house, but she knew that these sort of experiences are important too, even for kids, and I am so grateful to her for that. So I take my kids to the museum, to Chad's band concerts, to hear the elementary school choir sing, and the school science fair. I don't know what they will enjoy, or what they will remember, but I hope to give them a lot of experiences like my grandmother (and mom!) did for me. :0)