Monday, April 20, 2015

why i'll keep taking my kids to crowded "family" events







I try to take the boys to fun places where they can have a good learning experience. Last week, we ventured to Farm Animal Days where they have farm animals of all sorts for the kids to see up close.

There's always a line for holding the baby chicks, but this year we got there early enough that we didn't have to wait for long. The boys liked to look at them, but I was definitely more excited about holding the little babies than they were. They're so fluffy and little, how could you not love them? We also got to see cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats (with Milo donning his bike helmet the entire time, because you just never know when you might need to protect your head, right?).

I was hoping that we could get outta there without the boys remembering that you could sit on a tractor, but who was I kidding? The tractors were the main attraction in their eyes! So we waited in the long line, standing in the mud. And then we changed our minds and switched to an even longer line, with even more mud for the even bigger tractor.

When we got home we were exhausted, and dirty. I had to sit and stare at the wall for a good ten minutes to reassure myself that I didn't lose any of my boys in the sea of same-sized toddlers and that we were all home safe.

Sometimes these "fun" learning experiences that we try to give our children end up being tiring and stressful, and I can't always tell if the kids are appreciating it as much as I hope they will. .

So, will we go again next year? Probably. I think that whether good or bad, stressful or fun, appreciated or not, we're creating memories. We're sharing moments that we'll be able to look back on together! So as much as I wanted to swear off crowded family events after farm days last week, I think we'll keep going anyway. Maybe they'll appreciate it one day, and maybe they won't, but at least they'll know that I was an active participant in their learning, experiences, and life!

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