In any case, yesterday afternoon Todd and I began the banter of "should we or shouldn't we send the kids to school." At the time, we knew of one confirmed Influenza A case in second grade, but nothing further. We discussed the news chatter, the crazy blog conversations, and consulted friends and neighbors for their thoughts. I think the kicker for us was 1-Madison's wimp status when it comes to respiratory infections. (She has a knack for picking up every virus that wanders by in a 30 mile radius, AND it STAYS AROUND FOREVER.) And 2-Even if the bigger kids didn't infect themselves, they might pick it up and drop it around Grady. We've had a sick baby, and don't really want to repeat that experience. So, this morning as everyone started walking out the door, we made the call to play hooky. So, for now, we are part of the "reactor's club."
In spite of our hooky status, I had made plans to take Jennifer's little boy, Isaac, to Museum School in Fort Worth. I had been looking forward to the day in Fort Worth cruising down Memory Lane, but my original plan involved playing at the Children's Museum, and I decided against closed-space playplaces for today. It was actually a little difficult to come up with an alternative plan. Book store? No-train table on display for Grady to snack on. Target? Sure, fun for me, but not so fun for the kids. Mall play area? Same problem as the kid museum. Dang. Finally, as we were driving by the Amon Carter Museum, Tanner practically fell out of his seat with excitement. "Mommy, did you just see the Amon Carter Museum? We HAVE TO GO!" Turns out, his kindergarten class had just completed a telecast with the museum, AND he just happened to have his "passport" with him.
I thought for a moment. It didn't look like a popular place at 9:30 in the morning (in fact, we had the place to ourselves), and I didn't figure there was an interactive display to an Art Museum for Grady to snack on. Teachable moment, here we come.
It actually turned out pretty great. The kids were super pumped about reading the descriptions of the paintings, and were continually amazed at the years in which the paintings took place. Did you know there were people ALIVE in 1802? AND they knew how to paint? Amazing. We also watched a super cool video on how Remington made his bronze sculptures, and perhaps learned a little Art Museum etiquette along the way. To top things off, we wandered through the Modern Art Museum's grounds and discussed other kinds of sculpture. I'm not sure the kids are ready for modern art since they were more impressed with the water fountain, so I guess we'll keep it to these baby steps. :) 
We topped off the field trip with a picnic at a local park, and then headed home. I'm not sure if it was the right decision to stay home or not, and I still don't know what to think of all the craziness with this outbreak. I do know I probably used it as an excuse to steal my kids away from our crazy life for a day. And I also know I'm ok with that.
3 comments:
Frankly, I knew Danielle was looking for an excuse to keep the kids home. She loves time with her babies. I told her she had a built in excuse if she wanted to take them with her. So she took me up on that I guess. I would say it had more to do with that "want" than the Flu.
Beancounter
We are so glad that you enjoyed your visit to the Carter! We hope you guys return again and again. Next time you might want to check out our free family postcard tour from the information desk, or you might want to explore the sculpture in the Cultural District with our walking tour (download at http://www.cartermuseum.org/visiting/things-to-do). And don't forget that Storytime at the Carter returns on June 10!
Hi, This post was passed along to me and I am happy to say I was Tanner's teacher for his virtual lesson from the Amon Carter Museum. The kids were great and I am so pleased that the interactive videoconference from the Carter led to a visit!
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