Today was such a rainy day, so Maia and I headed off to the art museum. The last time we had this adventure, she was barely two years old, so she spent most of the time running through the galleries. I trusted this time would go better.
The beginning of our adventure was excellent. The DAI has a special children's area with opportunities to create their own masterpieces as well as work on math skills a la Roman numerals. I picked up that worksheet for when she gets older. Maia was very interested in coloring all the pictures and looking at the artwork intended for children. Once we were done in the children's area; however, our trip took a turn for the worse.
Perhaps I should have previewed the galleries before taking in my three year old, but I don't really believe in censorship, so I didn't even consider the fact that the art museum might be a disturbing experience. Clearly, it was scary for poor Maia. First of all, the rooms are gigantic and have a cavernous atmosphere. We were pretty much the only ones there, so this lent an eerie feeling to the entire experience. Even I felt kind of eerie, though I tried to act normal.
Even worse, we went into the European exibit, and there were lots of pictures of wars and people dying. It definitely was not all horses, baby portraits and flowers. Maia's grasp on my hand got tighter as we walked by some of the larger-than-life paintings. I could see her little brain trying to process why these things looked so scary. Then she said, "Mommy, I want to go to the car now." I felt like a horrible mother as I tried to find the way to the nearest exit wondering if this would somehow traumatize her for the rest of her life.
I'm sure we'll head back sometime soon, but maybe we'll stick to the Egyptian room or something a bit more kid-friendly. I'll do more research first.
1 comment:
Mebbe the mummy?
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