On Monday, the Freedom Center was free to the public for MLK, jr. Day, so we took advantage of this. Josh was off of work and joined us. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially what there would be for kids to do. It proved to be a bit intense. Louie and Benny had a lot of questions, especially about the pictures and representations of the people they saw. I tried to explain it the best I could to a four and three-year-old, but I wasn't sure they understood.
The one that seemed to bother them the most was of a boy whose clothes were torn and he wasn't wearing shoes. I explained how a long time ago there were bad people who treated other people so terribly, hurting them and making them work really hard for no money. They accepted my explanation, however lacking it was. We moved on to the children's area, a place for kids to use computer screens and draw pictures to hang on the wall for all to see.
Later at home, Louie was drawing again and when we were talking about what was going on in the picture he showed me the ripped shirts he drew. Although I'm glad we went, I think the museum is more for school-aged kids. It's difficult for little kids to grasp that there's injustice in the world.
Today after school we met Amanda, Owen and Eli down at Union Terminal for lunch. We've been there on packed days before, but never like this! In the rotunda they had a huge screen tv showing the inauguration. Regardless of who you voted for, it was a neat thing to be a part of. Usually I watch things like these by myself or with Kevin and the boys at home. Being in a large group you feel a part of something bigger. You can physically see how important our democracy is, and what a unique process we have in our choosing of leadership.
The picture above is right when Obama takes his oath. All the boys were really getting in to it. They joined in the clapping and Benny attempted to whistle by sticking his finger in his mouth. A few cute things: Louie's class talked about the inauguration today. He was telling me what he found out while driving down to the museum. Our new president is "The Rock Obama." I stifled a laugh. We were listening to the inauguration coverage on the radio as we drove. They introduced "Joseph R. Biden, Jr., the vice-president-elect." Benny's response was, "Junior?
Junior?! They have Junior there?!" In his world there will forever be only one
Junior.
The boys' school has struggled with their roof. It was supposed to be repaired over the summer and it didn't happen and, with the absurd amount of fall rain we've had, it started to leak. This was a good thing for the boys (and, I confess, for mom too as I wasn't ready to let go of the summer) in that they got two days off of school. We took advantage of that and the fact that Uncle Paul was visiting from Cleveland to go down to Union Terminal.
