This morning we went to the Children’s Museum of Houston. In a word: Wow! Jonah was overwhelmed initially (as were we). Once he absorbed his surroundings, he settled down and really enjoyed himself. We are definitely going back soon — just as soon as school starts back up so that there will be fewer ‘big kids’ running around the place.

In the midst of being overwhelmed by everything, Stephanie and I were struck by the following:

• Are all children’s museums this busy? We arrived around 10:00am about an hour after opening and Tot Spot was already packed! After talking with one of the Gift Shop workers, we learned that some parents who are regulars do not visit between the months of June and August.
• I was one of the only adult males age 30-40 present. There were a good number of grandfatherly-types, but I was one of only two men in the entire museum who looked to be between 30-40.
• I’ve never seen so many blond haired, blue eyed children accompanied by Hispanic adult females. I assume the women were nannies? Where were the parents? If they could afford nannies, clearly their income is nice enough… so why would parents both work? Maybe to pay for the nanny? Go figure.
• The children with nannies were, on average, very well behaved.
• Some of the children were downright heathens. That’s a pretty confined space given the number of people to throw a tantrum.
• We overheard another woman tell her children, “You remember the museum honey. This is where we come every Friday morning.”
• A number of women in Tot Spot clearly knew each other. One woman told another who seemed new to the group, “Oh, this is our regular play date spot.” If you lived in the area (or were within reasonable driving distance), that would make sense. I’m sure the kids would love it.
• Some of the women seemed very territorial as though Stephanie, Jonah, and I were encroaching on ‘their’ playspace. Fascinating!

By the time we left around 11:30am, the parking lot was completely filled and they were turning cars away!

Afterwards, we went to Cleburne Cafeteria for lunch. Jonah enjoyed himself (is there anyone he doesn’t flirt with these days?), but by the end of it all he was pretty tired. By the end of our meal, Jonah decided it was time for a nap. In fact, he slept the entire drive home and is now sound asleep in his crib. What a day!