Day at the Museum

In spite of the summer holidays, Little A has a full schedule. 4 or more hours of therapy each day (except Sundays) and swimming in the afternoons keep him occupied. His cousins, too, are involved in all sorts of summer workshops, music lessons and the like.

On Labour Day there was no work for anyone. We thought this would be the perfect time to visit the new museum that opened down the road recently. Little A, his cousins and my parents made a day out of it.

The last time Little A was at a museum with a large group, he hated it. He cried and tried to escape, and didn't want to try anything unless he was made to. He enjoys wandering when we go on our own, but tends to react badly to crowds. I worried he wouldn't be able to handle the group introduction that was "required" at the start of each visit.

To my surprise, he was great. After initial reluctance, he sat in a chair near the group and listened to the opening spiel. When the group was led to the first gallery and given another speech, instead of wandering into the exhibit area on the other side he simply peeked over then stood in a corner carefully, as if trying to tell me, "We're not meant to go there yet, Mum."

Once we were set loose to explore on our own, he tried many of the manipulative exhibits. He let other kids take turns and waited for another round if he liked them, or simply looked and walked past if he didn't. All in all, it was a good day out. When we sat to eat at the rather sad museum cafe after the tour, he kept running back to his favourite exhibits outside after his quick snack.

The only thing we didn't get to enjoy was the playground trip at the end, as it started to rain. With the museum being so nearby though, we can go again another time. Hopefully Little A will enjoy the trip even more the next time around.