A Day in the Gardens

Last week was the first day in months that I can remember being outdoors without having to bundle up like I was in the middle of the frigid Arctic, so we skipped an indoor play-date at the children's museum and headed over to the Chicago Botanic Garden.  What a great choice!  My little sailor and I took advantage of the outdoor paths despite the melting snow and muddy trek and walked a little over 2 miles breathing in the fresh, cool air while the orchid show was taking place indoors.  I wrestled with the idea of letting him stroll through the indoor color display since I wasn't sure if this was "an appropriate practice for a mom of a 13 month old," but I figured, "What the heck?!  Learning should be through real-life, real-world exploration and we are going to do just that!"  We were off to purchase our orchid show tickets!

Now, let me first say that we were there in the middle of a school-day so there weren't too many children there.  I think I saw 5-6 littles running around with their mommies besides my little guy and me.  I think 90% of the visitors that day were well over 55 years old. 

After purchasing our tickets, we were off to learn about colors, our senses, textures, flowers, etc. leaving the stroller at the entrance of the exhibit.  My anxiety level was rising thinking about how quickly my eager little boy moves when he discovers new things along the delicate flowers and displays before us; not a good combination, but we were going to make this a positive learning day! 

As we started walking through the colorful array of orchids, I could feel the disapproving looks from numerous elderly women.  Now I am typically a very out-spoken, matter-of-fact person, but today I decided I would let our actions speak louder than words.

My husband and I have been working with our son on the concept of "gentle touches" with our hands, so as I observed him gently touch leaves, brickwork, benches, etc. around him I was simply awe-struck that our little explorer was taking in his surroundings just as we have been modeling for him at home without me intervening.  Of course, as any mother would, I was beaming with pride on the inside, but as I glanced away from my little guy for a split second, there, before us, stood an older woman who clearly was not pleased with my decision to teach my son about natural beauty as she shook her head in disbelief at us.  I smiled gently at her and continued to point out the different colors to my eager learner, but I started doubting my decision until an elderly man passing by says, "that there is a picture-quality."  Why yes, yes it is, sir and thank you for validating my parental decision today!   

 

 

Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden http://www.chicagobotanic.org/

As an added bonus, the gardens are free, you pay for parking.  Military members and families can show their ID for FREE parking. 

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