DC is famous for the museums - a veritable treasure trove. I see folks from all over the world on the metro really excited to visit the museums in DC, all gratis thanks to the Smithsonian.
I've dragged the kids to a few over the years - a feeling of guilt to live so close and not take advantage of the opportunity drove me to cajole, threaten and bribe them into submission. Granted, the first thing we do is to visit the cafeteria, followed by a room and a half of reading and admiring, then we head outside, frisbee in hand!! Figure something is better than nothing.
The past year, my older one has found his voice.. as in "Forget it!" (My bleating of "we never talked like this to our elders" fell on deaf ears).
So, this year, the spring tourists came in with children (happy faces from what I could tell) in tow.. I came home and called a meeting with the kids and told them how much people spend on hotels and airfare to be able to visit some musuems.. Now I had the older one's attention. He wanted to maximize his return.. but can he put up with boredom just to take advantage of a vacation savings?! I could see his resolve wavering a little..
We made a bargain, we'd only visit two wings and then they'd get their ice cream and frisbee, plus lunch at the cafeteria!
In the musuem, I gave the older one the camera. He went through and photographed every item in the two wings and agreed to do another museum to boot. Of course, he got his food. He didn't even complain when we got home later than planned and he missed half his baseball practice!
I guess he just needed to see the museum through the camera's viewfinder!
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1 comment:
Any time there is money to be spent on them, my kids are motivated. Especially at the gift shop! I find it difficult to regulate what they spend their money on, so I usually don't mind them buying a souvenir since it usually will have a link to a positive memory. Seems like a better option to a pack of gum or football cards.
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