Children's Museum and other Frivolities...

This week Maggie attended her first major league baseball game. And promptly left after about three innings. Note to all those baseball fan parents out there - don't take a toddler to a major league baseball game. It's just a bad idea. It's dirty, it's cramped, it's loud, and it's boring. AND your kid may end up with a stomach flu 24 hours later, inexplicably, unless you blame the fact that she insisted on sitting on the concrete floor of your box seats, with the peanut shells and other grime. Ugh.

Any-hoo... in addition to first baseball game this week, Maggie got to experience her first ride on public transportation (the "L") and her first visit to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier.

I love that Children's Museum, they do a really good job of making the exhibits interactive for kids of all ages. I had to drag Maggie away from many exhibits (a few pictures follow, natch) HOWEVER, next time I go to the museum I will call first and ask how many school groups they are expecting because DAMN! Other people's kids are sooooo obnoxious! I mean, you know something is out of whack when the care-givers lack the self confidence to stand up to a four year old. On this particular day a whole army of pre-schoolers in purple t-shirts ran rough-shod all over that place and twice I had to tell a purple marauder to get the hell away from my kid. What did their "teacher" do? Nada. Thanks for the help lady.

So this experience got me wondering about the affect of the group on the individual, because I have to hope that most of these kids do not behave like this with their parents, and if they do they must get disciplined in some way, right? So does coming together as a herd and dressing alike, with the promise of "field trip!" looming before you, suddenly turn kids into creepy little brats worthy of a Stephen King novel? It's the only explanation. I really hope I'm raising a thoughtful, helpful, and respectful child, and I really hope she doesn't mind having the mom that volunteers to chaperon ALL the field trips.