A Most Unusual Museum

I don't know about you, but most of my trips to museums have not been that interesting. The visit to the museum gift shop would definitely be the highlight of the visit. It's all about the souvenirs, right? Even though I haven't been too crazy about some of my past museum visits, there are a few museums I'd like to see before I die: The Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cocoa-Cola Museum...just to name a few. Visiting a museum seems to be "cultural" and "refined" to me. I don't really consider myself either of these. Maybe my problem is that I've not been to enough museums and really appreciated the exhibits. Or perhaps it could be the fact that I think that Dog, the Bounty Hunter is quality entertainment. I don't know...it could go either way, I guess.

But...I did get to experience a museum visit this week. It was one that I won't soon forget. You see, my 8 year old daughter created a history and art museum in her bedroom. Some background is in order here....she's an only child and I adore her. She's very creative and imaginative. She's also very smart and cute...not that I'm biased or anything. If you don't believe me, just ask my husband...he'll tell you the same thing. But I digress....Raelynn really wants a brother or sister to play with and since it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon, she's taken to creating her own entertainment (she doesn't think that Dog is quality TV like her mother.)

So the other day, she walks into the living room and announces that she's making a museum. I tell her that's great and she gets real busy at her art table using scissors, paper, crayons, and markers. She tends to be a little dangerous with these items, so I made sure I was properly supervising her this time. She has "customized" some furniture pieces, and this could very well be due to the fact that I was watching Dog instead of her....but that's another story.

So she's done with her arts and crafts projects and invites me to her room for a museum visit. When I reach the door of her room, I see a foot stool with an empty shoe box on top. At this point, Raelynn hands me three tickets. (This is what she was making with her art supplies.) The first one was a welcome ticket. I put this one in the shoe box and entered Raelynn's Art and History Museum.

It's not one of these walk at your own pace type of museums. In addition to Raelynn being the creator of this fine establishment, she was also the curator and tour guide. On one side of her room, she had lined up dolls and doll furniture on her dresser. This was the history part of the museum. She told me stories about her dolls and their furniture and by far, my favorite was the doll that had a "bad hair day." Apparently there was nothing she could do about it, so she joined the museum to tell her story. At the end of this section of the museum, she collects the history ticket she had made. (It had several drawings of people on them.)

After the history lesson, she directs me to her bed on the other side of the room. She has laid out different pictures she's drawn (mostly of me) and several different coloring book sheets that she's colored and torn out. She tells me about each picture...who's in them and then she gives a running commentary on the quality of her own artwork. She asks which is my favorite, and of course, there's no one piece that's better than the other. I love them all. This was the last exhibit in the museum, so she collects the art ticket. (It has pictures of paintings in frames on them.)

I have to say that this was the best museum that I've ever visited. I don't think that a trip to the Louvre could ever compare to Raelynn's Art and History Museum. I had such a good time, I didn't even think to ask about visiting the gift shop.