- The walls of Jericho - See the puny guards atop the towers?
Postcards and online pictures from a friend’s recent trip to the Holy Land led to conversations about digging down to learn about the past – the walls of Jericho being the prime focus ;)
Then we joined a pre-school field trip to the Dinosaur Exhibit.
Tangent-story:
Mommy-the-day-before-the-trip: “they’re big, scary and look like they’re going to eat you" (leaning over the child with big eyes and claws out)
totally-unfazed-4yo-in-a-very-plain-voice: “They’re dead.”
Mommy: “Right, but they’re big, scary and look like they’re going to eat you.”
Child: “They’re dead.”
Mommy: “Right, but I’m not paying $24 and a day off of work if you’re going to get scared.”
Very-insistent-child: “They’re Dead, Momma. Dead.”
There went that $24….
Day of the field trip (enter into a smallish room with 3 or so life-size dinosaurs, quiet sounds emanating from them – and a gently swishing tail on the triceratops – oh dear – then enter a long hallway, Wizard of Oz style, loud noises emanating from the end – loud growling noises):
Child: I’ll stay in this room Momma – with the triceratops. He’s my favorite.
Mommy: Twenty-four dollars says you’re coming with me!
Museum Employee: Please keep the children with the adults at all times.
Mommy: Let’s go, honey! It’ll be great!
Child – clinging to the wall: NO!!!!!!!
Mommy: Fine, I’m going without you. (despite museum policy)
Child – remains around the corner, being passed by classmates and their parents – will NOT come or say a word.
Mommy goes back (no sense getting kicked out of the place) – thinking to herself “I don’t even LIKE dinosaurs – no fear – just don’t like them. And DON’T agree with the huge push for evolution taking millions of billions of years – there are dinosaurs in the Bible for goodness sake – and I just spent $24 to teach my kid that the Bible is wrong” – pick up child and carry him down the Wizard of Oz hallway (it IS creepy!), saying the whole time, “I’m right here with you. And they’re dead. You said so. You can bury your face in my neck if you don’t want to look, but this is the only way out of the exhibit.”
ENTER – THE ROOM. OH MY GOODNESS.
Child: “MOMMY! GET AWAY BEFORE IT EATS YOU!”
Mommy: It’s a robot. Just a robot.
(repeat a thousand times - I love his concern for me!)
Mommy almost drops child when the dinosaur in front of her is breathing. It’s lungs. were. moving. That thing is breathing.
Child continues to express strong concern for his mother, until HE sees the breathing dinosaur – that’s it. OUT the exit as fast as possible. It’s over.
(no, the pteranadon tied to the ceiling did NOT dispel the feeling of reality – there is a very good reason that dinosaurs, in those forms, no longer exist, but that is a post of another day)
We saw the OmniMax “Dinosaurs Alive”, which was excellent despite the loud music (covered ears when it played) and the millions of years of evolution brain-washing. Apparently a moving picture of a way-more-than-life-size running, growling, fighting, bleeding, eating, pooping dinosaur is not as scary as a robot that only moves about 10 inches at the most. Who’d’ve thought? Yes, pooping. A theater of 300 or so, at least 100 between ages 3 and 6, all saying “EWWWW!!!!!!!” at the same time.
Back to the main post:
After THAT experience, I had to spend money in the museum shop. We both needed the slightly more positive experience (it's never positive to give someone else my money, but we got some really cool items). And he found a cool little on-sale $3 archaeology kit – plaster of paris of course and a couple of shiny stones inside – I could make it at home for something like 20 cents, but I’d have to go purchase the plaster of paris and here it was right in front of me.
He spent 7 days chipping away at that thing, with the provided tools (a 2 inch long stick with a brush on one end and a 2 inch long wooden stick with a chisel shaped at the end – very weak). We finally let impatience take control and got out the hammer with the wooden chisel. Then the plaster flew. And he found his beautiful polished stones. Another postcard arrives from the Holy Land and we’re back to discussions about excavations – and then I finally let him look at our Jerusalem pictures and books with the miniature Jerusalem in the Israel museum. Aha! he thinks - I can dig up ANYTHING!
He is so into archaeology now – digging inside of things to discover things about the past…
My bread? He wasn’t looking for anything – just practicing technique. He got the crumbled pieces mixed in with the next several meals – we are NOT wasting food. He dug up the past (the archaeologized bread) in his dinner and thought that was funny.
But the chunk of mozzarella cheese? It’s gone. Unusable. We have pizza on the menu for Saturday – guess he won’t be eating cheese on his half the pizza.
But Mommy, I had to practice. I’ve got to get really good so I can help them find the rest of the walls of Jericho!
Ok, ok. Let’s go find some nice places to dig at school though, ok? Just until Mommy gets you some nice plaster of paris.
Ok, Mommy. Will you please count as I walk around? I've got to knock them down.
"Keep walking, but you won't knock down our walls. Keep walking, but she isn't gonna fall! It's plain to see, your brains are very small, to think walking will be knocking down our walls." ~Famous last words of the Jericho guards (ok, so it's really from the French peas, via VeggieTales)
Another VeggieTales quote:
"My name is Joshua! And God has given us this land!!!" What confidence in God's way!
- Keep walking!
