The Children's Museum
If you asked me right now to dole out the one most important piece of parenting advice that I've learned in the past 17 months, it would be this: Do not take your kid to the Children's Museum on $2 zoo admission day. I'm sure once there's some more distance between me and the events of last Tuesday I might have a different answer but, presently, that's it. Is the economy really that bad that the prospect of saving $8 is worth waiting in lines a half-mile long, getting your foot crushed by a frazzled mother of triplets pushing a 600-pound stroller all after you've searched for parking for the pasl hour? Apparently it is.
But, of course, I wasn't going to the zoo. Nor was I aware it was $2 admission day. I simply wanted to go to the bastard stepchild of the zoo, the Children's Museum, which, quite inconveniently, shares the same parking lot. So I got to drive around for 45 minutes without even getting the eventual payoff of seeing a giraffe take a dump.
OK, perhaps I should back up. I actually like the Children's Museum a lot. And so does Elliott. Next time we'll just be sure to take the MAX. We went on Tuesday somewhat on a whim. I'm pretty sure Elliott had a nasty case of cabin fever since he spent his morning making his sign for "please" and frantically pawing at our front doorknob.
The Children's Museum is a great place to go for parents who will kidney-punch the next person who calls their child "busy". Because, as active and energetic as Elliott can be, he looked like a coma patient compared to some of the freight trains we saw. It's fun to see the range of emotions on display at the museum. There's the kids who are enthralled by everything, the parents who are trying to convince their kids how much fun clay is by overselling it to extreme degrees and there are also the parents who tried to push their visit to the museum into nap time just a little too far and paid for it with their will to live.
Elliott did extremely well. He loves water and could have spent two solid hours splashing in their water works exhibit. He also enjoyed simply observing all the other kids. I'm glad that, at least so far, he's not the toddler who bowls over everyone else, snatches toys and causes general mayhem. He does that at home when he's alone. But with other kids, he's far more subdued. He can be playing and, when another child comes over, he will stop what he's doing and just watch as if to say: "Oh... No, you go ahead. I'm not sure if I was doing this right anyway." I think he gets that from me.
But perhaps the biggest highlight of the day was all of the new things for Elliott to climb and sit on. Without a doubt, Elliott's favorite thing in the world right now is sitting. He turns anything into a chair. I adore watching him pick up a book as he then slowly walks backwards until he runs into something and then sits down with his back against it to read. He climbs up on 90% of our chairs at home, never staying in them for long as if he is on a constant quest to find the ultimate destination to relax.
In the past few weeks we have experimented with time-outs. When Elliott has deliberately done something he knows is wrong and has been asked not to do, he was put on our couch and not allowed to leave for a minute or two. The first time I tried this he served his time, he got a hug from me and then was taken off the couch. And he immediately started crying until I put him back in "time-out" so that he could sit comfortably again. Maybe discipline is just going to have to be mom's territory. I'm comfortable with that.
Elliott sitting in a director's chair working the soundboard at The Children's Museum. His uncle Corbin would be proud.
Elliott suffering through a time-out.
The vinegar didn't work - the time outs are a treat - what to do with such a wonderful child? Just keep loving him to pieces, I guess!
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