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King Tut with and without kids

25 May

We were invited to a member’s opening for King Tut at the Pacific Science Center and I was totally excited.  I talked the kids up: I pointed out the posters all over Seattle.  I told them all about King Tut’s sparkly gold.  I thought it would be as magical for them as Gaugain at the Seattle Art Museum.  What I forgot to do was my kid-friendly research: tombs are dark places and there was a little movie (1 minute tops!) in the darkened beginning of the entry room.  This did not bode well for the kid who hates movies/darkness/confined spaces and when the door closed it was game over.  I didn’t want to make a scene so I decided that was enough of King Tut for that day and came back today with the hubby. (PS I found a great babysitter on Urbansitter a new site for finding/scheduling sitters and she was a life-saver!  This might be my new go-to find a sitter in a pinch site.)

I’m so glad we went without my guys because now I know what to show them when we do take them although I think they might still be a little young. (We have had a lot of circle of life questions since we went fishing a couple weeks ago and this would probably put them over the top.  I think King Tut might be more of a 5 and up type of exhibit.)   It was nice to get to see everything and actually read and take it all in without having to translate, explain or stop little hands from trying to grab things.  The movie clips and explanations scattered throughout the exhibit were entertaining and informative as well-we took a lot longer going through than I thought we would.  (I studied a lot about ancient Egypt when I was teaching so I found it so amazing seeing all these artifacts in real life!  And in my city! I was in my nerd element.)


Of course, the things I found most interesting were the necklaces and jewellery:

They remind me of some jewels I’ve had my eyes on from Baublebar.  (I can’t wait till they’re back in stock)

And these too!

And I couldn’t help but giggle over the ancient potty.

But I won’t spoil the exhibit with anymore pics.  I think you need to see it for yourself if you’re in Seattle and if you set the scene right for your little ones, (maybe this book will help?) they will probably find it entertaining too.  I’m still in awe of how lucky we are to have such beautiful ancient artifacts visiting us for a little while.  (King Tut will be here until January 6th.  Maybe by then we’ll be able to convince the scared one this is something very cool he might want to see.)

Raising Readers

18 May

Like most kids, my guys learn a lot from books.  And I love that what they read helps them learn about real life. But I’m not always sure if we’re on the same page about the message the stories are trying to teach us.  For instance we recently read the Lorax.  (You know me and my trying to be more agrarian/green/save the planet, right?).

After reading the book, the duo look at me with horrified looks on their faces and I thought”yay! they get it!”  But no:

“Mommy!  We need to cut down all our trees!”
Wait, no! Why?  Why cut them down?
“If we cut them down the Lorax won’t come. We don’t want him to come.”.
Oh.

I’ve since been reading the book and showing them how cute and cuddly the Lorax might be as a friend.  I figure if I make Truffala trees out of cotton candy there might still be hope.
Now the duo is on a Skippy Jon Jones kick.  I like the rhymes, vocabulary and cute Spanish sayings in the books we’ve read.  What do the guys like?


“You are not the boss of me!  We’re the bosses!!!”  They love to shriek at me as they streak down the hall in the opposite direction of whatever I’ve asked them to do.  Books are dangerous.

Do I dare buy this chair?

14 May

I have the perfect spot picked out for this chair on my deck so I can read and relax in the summer but I’m scared the guys are going to use it as a trapeze bar/rope swing/vehicle for death-defying acts.  How do I know this?
We went to the Om Culture kid’s playtime a couple weeks ago and it’s full of swinging machines and things that bounce: rope swings, trapeze bars, little belly swings that you can swing and fly around on and trampolines.  (Not sure how you might use these in yoga, but they were all pretty cool.)  I couldn’t even snap one good picture: the guys were a blur of movement and smiles.

Then the Bean decided he would fly from a trapeze bar to a trampoline.  He was unsuccessful (bouncing off the metal side of a trampoline) and ultimately let the whole neighborhood know with his wails.  (You should know by now we are not very Om-like or graceful in this family.)  But despite nearly paralyzing himself, (or so we both thought at the time) he is still trying to hang from his knees on anything he can climb on

and the boys are begging me to go back.  (I will when I get confirmation from my friends that I have not been added to the “over-dramatic-crazy-not-serene-at-all-don’t let this momma in” list.).  Both boys want to be just like the “girl in the giant O” from last week’s Recess Monkey performance and I need to get my bravery on.

So I’m wondering how long this chair will last on my deck.   And should I install a trapeze bar while I’m at it?

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