Yesterday a friend and I took our four boys to the Blanton Art Museum. When you bring four boys, ages 11, 11, 9, and 4, to an art museum, you need a strategic plan. We printed out a scavenger hunt (found here), and gave a clipboard and pencil to each boy. I thought it was going to be really helpful, but after a few minutes, the older kids checked all the boxes and handed them back to the moms with that oh-so-familiar "Here. I don't feel like carrying this any more."
At the penny installation...
Guard:You can touch the pennies, but please don't throw them, and don't climb into the pile.
Boys: Exactly how much of your body can you get to hover over the pile without technically climbing into the pile?
Me: Hey, did you forget the number one rule? A guard just told me that you were touching the art.
Kid: I only touched that felt thing on the wall with the coins stuck to it.
Me: That's a piece of art. Don't touch the art.
Kid: O-kay!
A few minutes later, next to a massive plastic statue...
Kid: Whoa! Look at this giant fat guy! Look at his goofy face! Look at his huge ears!
Me: It's called a Buddha, and--
Kid (reaching a hand out): There's not a "no touching" sign, so--
Me and Guard (in unison): You can't. touch. the. art.
I think the tipping point was the European art section, which included quite a few depictions of plump, nude women, including Saint Agatha's severed breasts on a platter and a lady stabbing herself in the chest. After we left that wing, one of my boys asked me, "Why are Europeans such pervs?" It obviously didn't bother him that much, though, because he later suggested with a chuckle that we go back to the naked lady committing suicide.
Within about 45 minutes, we were ready to leave. When we asked them to stand together for a picture, it quickly devolved into this:
Which brings me to the journaling topic for day 6: Following instructions. Are you a rule follower? Why or why not? (I totally am, and I often assume it's a first-born thing.) Can you think of a specific incident where you didn't follow the rules, or had to deal with someone else's rule breaking?
Day 7 is a fun one, and could vary quite a lot in length of time it takes to complete. Make a list of all the shows you have been to: concerts, plays, performances of any kind. For me, it wouldn't take too long. I enjoy seeing live performances, but especially since having kids, it just doesn't happen very often, maybe a couple times per year. But I have friends who are big into music and could probably fill pages with their list of concerts. If you have a couple that really stand out for you, write some more detail about it: who you went with, how much you paid for the tickets, what you enjoyed most about the show, etc.
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