My biggest takeaway from that museum was learning the difference between bison and buffalo. I went to Haltom High School and proudly wore T-shirts emblazoned with buffaloes. I stood on the sidelines during football games next to the buffalo mascot shouting "B-U-F-F-A-L-O!" I know what a buffalo looks like; or so I thought. I directed the kids to the buffalo at the museum and was just about to bust out a speech about buffaloes when I realized that the sign said bison. I had to ask an employee.
"Excuse me, why does this say bison? It's a buffalo."
Here's what I learned.
Bison live in North America. Buffaloes live in Africa.
Notice the horns are different as well. So when I was in high school, apparently I should have been leading the crowd in cheering "B-I-S-O-N!" Kind of embarrassing.
Besides exploring and learning together, I also love that museums have no laundry to fold or dishes to wash. My job is to be present as a tour guide. There are few distractions and I can observe the kids interacting with others and learning. I love that we weren't pressed for time like most people there. Every parent/daycare escort seemed to be tugging on the children's hands: "We've got to go see other stuff. We want you to see everything and we've only got a little time left!" Not my kids. If they were interested in something, we stayed there until they became disinterested.
I especially enjoyed watching the kids play on the kid construction area; a replica of the Dallas skyline. Paul chose to build towers by himself and stayed focused for 20 minutes doing that. Claire decided to create a community. She went to each child at the area and asked if they wanted to be on her "team." She had them organized and gave them different roles of sorting and carrying blocks. She was directing without being rudely bossy and she was super-excited about her team. When we needed to move to a different exhibit she ran to inform each child of where we were going so they could follow us. She was a motivational leader and great organizer and delegator. Paul was focused on the task at hand and stuck with it until he was done. I cannot wait to watch them grow up and develop their skills.
At lunchtime we ate outside in the shade. We started feeding the pigeons our bread crusts and Paul was delighted that a little chickadee was able to nab a piece that he had thrown. All throughout our lunch other children approached the birds stomping or waving their arms wildly. My kids kept saying, "Why are they doing that? They're being mean to the birds!" I loved to see the compassion they had for animals that are often ignored or even disdained.
Museums are the places where I feel like the best mom I can be and where I am immeasurably proud of my children. We should go more often.
Here's some photos of our adventure that day:
Racing a T-Rex
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