What We Do For Our Kids
I'm not a lover of theme parks, and huge crowds can cause me to break out in a sweat, but we'd been feeling that so many of the outings we plan are geared to our older daughter, Emily, 10. When Emily was 4, we'd taken her to Raffi. When she was 2, we even shlepped to Radio City Music Hall to see Barney. But with Annie, we'd skipped those dreaded events, feeling we'd been there, done that.
So Guilt took us, and our daughter, to Sesame Hell on July 3.
What a misery it was for us (me and my husband, not our daughter, who was happy as could be). Crowds galore, jammed into sweaty, long lines for rides. Lots of people crammed into little wading pools, with their babies and toddlers wailing. And for this privilege, we had to empty our pockets. All told we spent more than $200, despite the fact that we bought our daughte rjust one little souvenir (which she adored for all of 20 minutes and hasn't looked at since.)
Looking around at the families, who brought 3, 4, kids with them, spending a small fortune in the process, I had to wonder: Do our kids really need this? Isn't this part of the myth that if we drop a load of money on an overcrowded, overhyped theme park that our kids will somehow be happier for it? Or am I the only person who finds these "child-friendly" experiences grim misery?
I
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 8:04 AM
4 Comments:
While I have to agree with you, we are taking a family trip to Disney World next month...we'll see how it goes. But, it's funny to read this today, because I was just thinking of the next post for my own blog about how we just had the best family weekend of the year and it was free. Fireworks at the park Saturday evening and a day at the beach Sunday. Sometimes as a parent, rich doesn't need to mean expensive.
Good luck at Disney World! I found Disneyland kind of fun, in part because we went off season. Weather was nice, lines were reasonable.
I guess my larger issue here is why do we, as parents, feel like we have to endure these child-friendly places? I'd rather spend drop my dough on experiences that I think are truly enriching. Like a trip to Paris (doing that in the fall). Or a trip to Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Will the kids love the Louvre as much as Elmo? Or as instantly? Nope, but they will develop some appreciation for it...and I'll have a much better time.
Maybe I'm just rationalizing my selfishness.
Dad in progress has a point. This weekend was free for us as well. The beach, a picnic. We all had a great time. I'm a new mother and often find myself wondering if we need to take the "must have my child experience everything" route. My fondest memeories from my childhood (the 70's) we're free as well. I can't even remember Disneyland and I was 8 !!! I do however remember the beach and such. Maybe it's a balance I'm looking for.
Agree with you Amy. That's what i was trying to say, oh so inarticulately, about Sesame Place. Are these expensive places really the way to give our kids happy childhoods?
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