The Queen's Rambles

One of my friends told me that the re-opened American Museum of History has a fabulous children’s section. After speaking with her, I believed that the whole basement was devoted to a children’s play area and invention lab. I checked the website and read about it. It was pretty vague, which did nothing to discourage the delusion that a DC museum would be child friendly. Believe me. The city is many things, but child friendly isn’t one of them. They don’t even have a children’s museum, a common amenity in most big cities and several small towns.

Several months back we said we were going to start doing a family outing at least once a week–something more than the park or whatever. Something fun and new and exciting!

That lasted about two weeks.

I decided to re-institute our plan while I can still waddle around. We could have drove, but Erik loves riding trains, so we thought the metro would be more of an adventure and easier on Mike.

Ha!

Never ride the red line. I don’t care what they tell you. Don’t do it!

Turns out they were doing repair work on the line this weekend, which meant we rode the train, then rode a shuttle bus, then rode the train again. And those shuttle buses? They pack ’em tight! I was very lucky to get a seat, though it was not near Mike and Erik. Basically I sat my butt down in the first empty seat I saw and left the boys to fend for themselves. If I stand too long my c-section scar starts pulling. Once it starts pulling I’m in pain for the rest of the day.

We finally got to the museum and discovered that my friend had been exaggerating quite a bit. There was a small play room with about four hands-on displays. There was a really cool lab, but it could in no way accommodate the massive amounts of children clamoring for space. It was pretty much a nightmare.

We finally found an empty table and Erik had a fabulous time building a huge tower out of drinking straws and jacks (only they were a real set of something so not actually drinking straws and jacks).

We walked around the museum a little bit, but it was not preschooler friendly. We ended up in the cafeteria, which was right next to the ride simulators. Erik and Mike went on an “asteroid train” ride, which was apparently very cool. It damn well better have been for $7/person.

All the pain of public transportation and that was the big thrill.

The bigger thrill was actually outside the museum.

There was a guy playing a trashcan/bucket drum set that thrilled Erik.

He spent a good ten minutes dancing away. I think we could have set a hat out for him and collected a few bucks. People were loving it. I even took a small video at the end, but it isn’t that thrilling. I should have started videoing it a lot sooner.

He was dancing so much he wore a hole in the grass. I need to call around this week and get him into a dance class. I’ve been meaning to do it for months but never get around to it. I think he would really enjoy learning some real dance moves.

We spent a lot more time on the train/bus than we did doing fun family activities, but I guess the train ride itself was an experience.

Today was the opposite of family fun. Erik and I went to the gym, then we came home and started cleaning. Mike did the majority of the work, but I cleared out all the toy bins, organized them all and threw out a ton of plastic flotsam that was just taking up space.

It feels so nice to have a clean house. I have been really lax the past few months about cleaning, which is bad since I am not the best housekeeper to begin with. But I hate a gross house, so I guess I better get off my butt more often. I’m just so lucky to be married to a man who can wield a vacuum with the best of them.

My friend was telling me to today that she had to take both her kids grocery shopping this afternoon because her husband was sleeping. My jaw about hit the floor. I knew he was not the most helpful husband, but that would not fly in my house. I don’t know how she puts up with his lack of motivation to help around the house/take care of his own children, but I guess he must do something to light her fire. I don’t know.

I must be a pretty demanding wife, but Mike knew that when he married me. He knew I never wanted children for several reasons. When I was a child my dad did NOTHING to help raise us. I knew I couldn’t handle being the only person taking care of the house and the kids while my husband was off playing in the desert every weekend. Before I agreed to the notion of children Mike had to convince me that I wasn’t going to be stuck holding the bag, doing everything, basically being a slave like my mom was. Even though I knew that wasn’t in Mike’s personality, it was still a pretty scary prospect since I’d never witnessed a good parenting partnership.

So there you go. I am very lucky to have such a great husband, but I wouldn’t accept any less than a guy who knows how to pitch in around the house. I think he got the raw end of the stick. It will go back to being more balanced when I am done with my weird pregnancy food issues and start meal planning again. I think he is less than impressed with ham and cheese sandwiches, sweet pickles, scrambled eggs and tacos.

On another pregnancy related note: I realize I should start proofreading these posts, but I can’t make myself do it. I know why I am getting really confused comments lately. My writing makes no sense at all. I can’t express a simple thought. I get off track. I assume everyone can read my mind. I don’t even know what I’m talking about. Sorry about that. I have issues and now I have to go to bed.