Elton John Is Wrong
"Sorry" doesn't seem to be the hardest word - "goodbye" is most difficult word for me to say. I did this yet again this morning when I saw my son off at the airport. I love spending time with my son, which happens about once a month or once every three weeks, but it's just never long enough. This weekend, we celebrated his 13th birthday by going to The Tech and The Winchester Mystery House. He also got to pick out his choice of birthday cake from Dick's Bakery, so we had a delicious checkerboard white/dark chocolate cake with burnt white icing. As is tradition, he picked out his birthday dinner for me to make - meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn.
It was interesting watching K at The Tech, which is the Technology Museum in San Jose. He paid very little attention to things I thought he'd be interested in, such as the "clean room" and the "internet" area. He ended up spending the majority of his time programming the computer and connected devices in order to rig up a mechanized operation to feed the computerized fish. So, he had a choice of using a button, a motion sensor, or a microphone as the trigger. The trigger then started the motion of either the toy train or the lever - he chose the lever. Tinker toys were connected to set in motion the feeder, which had a mallet at one end to simulate a fish feeder. There were computerized videos that showed different ways to accomplish this task, but K wanted no part in the videos. Read the manual... follow directions? No way! After a few unsuccessful tries, I thought he would give up and wander to another exhibit, but he insisted that we stay until he figured it out, which he eventually did. It made me think a few things - first of all, ever since he was a young kid, K has always been fascinated by how things work. He has always liked electricity and is a very tactile learner. If it's not "hands on", it's not going to connect for him. Also, I always worry when he doesn't maintain attention to a task, even a seemingly enjoyable one. This showed me that, with the proper motivation and interest in something, he can see a project through to completion. This has been a big worry for me as I look ahead to his future and try to envision what the real world will be like for him.
On Sunday, we met up with some friends and visited the Winchester Mystery House. K really wanted to take this tour because he has a love of guns and weird trivia. Personally, I thought the tour was overpriced, but I learned some things. First of all, if you're rich, you can afford to be eccentric (like Mrs. Winchester was). Secondly, there is such a thing as having too many bathrooms. The tour also made me vow that, if I ever have contractors work on a house, I will let them do their job so that, after I die, I won't have people wandering through my house on a tour thinking "this was one weird chick". Of course, K liked the gun display the best. He was amused by certain factoids presented on the tour - like the fact that Mrs. Winchester's favorite number was 13, which is a pattern she used repeatedly through the house. Also, from a kid's perspective, the only thing a gift shop really needs to have in it to be appealing is candy and soda.
All in all, a very good and busy weekend. They never last long enough....
It was interesting watching K at The Tech, which is the Technology Museum in San Jose. He paid very little attention to things I thought he'd be interested in, such as the "clean room" and the "internet" area. He ended up spending the majority of his time programming the computer and connected devices in order to rig up a mechanized operation to feed the computerized fish. So, he had a choice of using a button, a motion sensor, or a microphone as the trigger. The trigger then started the motion of either the toy train or the lever - he chose the lever. Tinker toys were connected to set in motion the feeder, which had a mallet at one end to simulate a fish feeder. There were computerized videos that showed different ways to accomplish this task, but K wanted no part in the videos. Read the manual... follow directions? No way! After a few unsuccessful tries, I thought he would give up and wander to another exhibit, but he insisted that we stay until he figured it out, which he eventually did. It made me think a few things - first of all, ever since he was a young kid, K has always been fascinated by how things work. He has always liked electricity and is a very tactile learner. If it's not "hands on", it's not going to connect for him. Also, I always worry when he doesn't maintain attention to a task, even a seemingly enjoyable one. This showed me that, with the proper motivation and interest in something, he can see a project through to completion. This has been a big worry for me as I look ahead to his future and try to envision what the real world will be like for him.
On Sunday, we met up with some friends and visited the Winchester Mystery House. K really wanted to take this tour because he has a love of guns and weird trivia. Personally, I thought the tour was overpriced, but I learned some things. First of all, if you're rich, you can afford to be eccentric (like Mrs. Winchester was). Secondly, there is such a thing as having too many bathrooms. The tour also made me vow that, if I ever have contractors work on a house, I will let them do their job so that, after I die, I won't have people wandering through my house on a tour thinking "this was one weird chick". Of course, K liked the gun display the best. He was amused by certain factoids presented on the tour - like the fact that Mrs. Winchester's favorite number was 13, which is a pattern she used repeatedly through the house. Also, from a kid's perspective, the only thing a gift shop really needs to have in it to be appealing is candy and soda. All in all, a very good and busy weekend. They never last long enough....
posted by Notta Wallflower at 9:55 AM
11 Comments:
K sounds soooo much like Z! Construction toys have always been his favorite. He can create anything out of Legos.
You didn't REALLY expect him to read directions, did you? He IS a male, afterall. ;)
Z was the same way in the Cody, Wyoming museum. They have a fantastic western art collection and Plains Indian museum. The only thing that impressed him was the gun collections.
TSHS - I have no expectation that K will read directions since I never do. :-P
Noooo, a woman that doesn't read directions?! I certainly hope that H is a direction reader. Every family needs one. ;)
TSHS - Yeah, H reads direction AND he's a guy. :-P He's a good influence on K and myself.
I had to share my bathroom with my sister and older brother when we were all teenagers. That was hell. In my book there can never be too many bathrooms. I am glad K had a good time.
Angelique - You have a point. I just wouldn't want to clean all the bathrooms. However, if I was rich enough to have 13 bathrooms, I'd probably have a cleaning person. :-P
What a good post, Notta. Very sad that you live so far away you need to fly him in to see him. :(
I've never been to The Tech nor The Winchester Mystery House. My father always said the latter was a tourist trap and never took us. But he was into nature and we went to practically every cool park in the Bay Area, so I'm not at all disappointed.
The Tech museum sounds neat. San Francisco has the Exploratorium, which I don't know if you mentioned you went there or not. I don't remember.
Mrs. Winchester was a nut, but that picture you have on your blog of her house is gorgeous. I love Victorian architecture (if someone corrects me and says it's Queen Anne, I seriously can't tell the difference between the two).
Your post has me curious. I looked up the house in wikipedia and found that she inherited $20 million + got about $1000/day in income from the company itself. That's a fat amount of money for that time period.
160 rooms? That's crazy! I'm currently drawing blueprints for a house with five master bedrooms + one guest bedroom that I think is huge. I need to see this house now, just to see it.
ZS - I recommend both places. Yes, Winchester house is expensive, but I still liked it. Mrs. Winchester did inherit a lot of money and your figures on $ per day were what the tour guide reported. I wasn't sure what type of architecture her house was, but I liked it. It was very quirky and she added a lot of her own touches to it. She even designed some of the stained glass in the house, which was purchased through Tiffany, I think. Seriously, if I went and toured this house by myself, I would have gotten lost - that's how big it is. If you go, let me know what you think. :-)
Notta - This is something the Mrs. will want to see, so I won't see it until the summer. I'll definitely post about it.
I am so greatful that all my kids and grandkids live in town. My greatest fear is that one of them will move away someday!
GWB - It's hard to deal with. I try not to say too much because it is my choice to live in CA while he's in WA. Still doesn't make it easy.
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