I totally gave a parent the side eye this weekend

[dana2006]

We were in Historic Jamestown (great exhibit, by the way) and this father was doing his darndest to educate his two young daughters. Problem was,  the older one was probably no more than 8 or 9, and the younger one was 5ish, who simply lacked the attention span required to go through an archeological exhibit.

*Warning, the following part mentions human remains and may be too graphic for some*

There were two human skeletons on display, one of which was a victim of a gun shot wound, with the lead bullet imbeded in the leg bone. The father was pointing out all the various aspects of the skeleton to his daughters, who were just not interested. Everytime they tried to wonder off, he dragged them back to lecture them more. Then he found something that did hold their attention, the partial skull of Jane, victim of cannabalism during Jamestown's Starving Time. He kept pointing out the knife marks on the skull which came from would-be cannabalists, and other aspects that all point to a gruesome part of Jamestown's history. The younger girl was fascinated, and asked "What were they trying to do to her?" To which he replied matter of factly, "They were trying to eat her." He seemed gratified that his daughter was finally engaged. 

I was like  :^)  Holy age inappropriate! 

[texassmith]

DD is 5 and would love an exhibit like that. She is super curious about anything and everything. But forcing a kid through looking at it seems a bit much, yeah.

[papie]

lol

I'm sorry, I can't get worked up about this. I find the idea of saying that to my 5yo hilarious. I am a mean mommy, but would enjoy he horror in her face.

[eddy]

I don't really think this is inappropriate at all. I wouldn't sugar coat it for my 5 year old.

I also hate judgy parenting posts so I was fully prepared to come in and disagree with this!

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2013 13:03:24 GMT -5 texassmith said:

DD is 5 and would love an exhibit like that. She is super curious about anything and everything. But forcing a kid through looking at it seems a bit much, yeah.

Lol

[littlesthobo]

*shrug* I'd tell my 4 year old the same.

[Yankees21]

Well he definitely isn't one to shelter his kids! I'm laughing imagining the look on the kids' faces..

[lilybug]

Eh. I'm pretty sure I would tell my 3.5 y.o. about that. He's not freaked out easily, and would find it interesting. Maybe that's flameful.

He's smart enough to know (and I would tell him) that while this girl was in danger of being eaten, HE is not - I'm sure 5-8 year olds can figure that out as well.

[Jalapeñomel]

Why would you judge this?

[wambam]

Parents being honest with their kids?! *gasp*

[bania]

Hmmm I see what you are saying.

I think it's fine though. I'm sure the dad knew it wouldn't traumatize them. It's not like it was a reenactment.

[eddy]

Also shockingly, parents know their kids pretty darn well. They know if their kids can handle information like this or not. If you have a pretty sensitive kid, I doubt you would want to take them through this exhibit.

I know, I know I a telling you all brand new information. YWIA

[bittybomb]

My oldest will be 5 tomorrow, and I don't think it was age inappropriate at all.  He's been to museums before and has enjoyed them no matter his age.  In fact, I would bring my 2 1/2 year old daughter and 17 month old son too.  God forbid a father try to spend some quality time with his children.

ETA children instead of son.  Lol.

[aprilsails]

I can totally see my DH doing the same thing. I really can.

He gets super nerdy and excited about things that I know no kid will ever relate to the way he does - unless if our future children turn out like him. His Dad took him to antique shows and coin collectors meetings since he was a very small child. On vacation, my parents just threw me in the lake (which was awesome!)

[thinkofthesoldiers]

I would have side-eyed if he had said, "Next time you complain about dinner, we're going to eat dead little girls." And even then, I would have probably laughed because well, it is ridiculous.

[BieberMyBalls]

...Congrats? I don't really see anything worthy of a side eye here.

[speckledfrog]

Sounds fine to me.

[jennysmitten]

I find this very, very funny.

[speckledfrog]

Also, since you seem new, I'll let you know that these kinds of posts very rarely go over well here.

[game blouses]

I would have been fascinated by this when I was little. I was obsessed with Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen. It would have been weird if he'd taken them to the exhibit where they would see human remains, then told them "Oh, they were just playing a game" instead of the truth.

[dana2006]

Lol, I know this would rile some parents.

I was annoyed b/c the girls were bored to death by most of his lectures, and he could only get their attention by pointing out the most shocking thing in the room. Meanwhile, other museum visitors couldn't get a close look or read the information in peace b/c he just wouldn't stop talking.

[dana2006]

Jul 8, 2013 13:13:21 GMT -5 speckledfrog said:

Also, since you seem new, I'll let you know that these kinds of posts very rarely go over well here.

My post count is low on here but I go back several years. lol.

[lilybug]

So it wasn't really about the info being age inappropriate, then?

Judging a parent for being honest about a historical event is quite different from judging a guy for being a rude, overly loud museum guest.

[speckledfrog]

Jul 8, 2013 13:17:41 GMT -5 dana2006 said:

Lol, I know this would rile some parents.

I was annoyed b/c the girls were bored to death by most of his lectures, and he could only get their attention by pointing out the most shocking thing in the room. Meanwhile, other museum visitors couldn't get a close look or read the information in peace b/c he just wouldn't stop talking.

How dare that man try to engage his daughters!  What a selfish oaf.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 8, 2013 13:17:41 GMT -5 dana2006 said:

Lol, I know this would rile some parents.

I was annoyed b/c the girls were bored to death by most of his lectures, and he could only get their attention by pointing out the most shocking thing in the room. Meanwhile, other museum visitors couldn't get a close look or read the information in peace b/c he just wouldn't stop talking.

Yes, clearly this is what you meant by your OP. 

[bania]

Okay well which is it? The inappropriate education or hogging the exhibit?

[BieberMyBalls]

Jul 8, 2013 13:17:41 GMT -5 dana2006 said:

Lol, I know this would rile some parents.

I was annoyed b/c the girls were bored to death by most of his lectures, and he could only get their attention by pointing out the most shocking thing in the room. Meanwhile, other museum visitors couldn't get a close look or read the information in peace b/c he just wouldn't stop talking.

Dude..he was trying to spend time with his kids. So they were bored, who cares? Not your business. And also, its a public museum. I can almost bet no one else gave a crap that they couldn't read it in peace. That's usually the risk you take when you go out in public, lol. I'm pretty sure being "riled up" about it, has nothing to do with being a parent. This is just silly.

[Deleted]

The only thing I'm judging here is you judging this father for being an involved/engaged parent.

ETA - And I'm not a parent.

[tricia23]

I see nothing judgeworthy about this. I'm assuming he wouldn't have been so honest about it if he thought it would scare them. Or maybe he would, but since they're his kids, and not mine, I'd probably just mind my own business. 

[pinkeggs]

I would totally tell both of my kids about this and they are 4.5 & 3. Of course, I tell them about my cadavers in my labs and we've taken them to Body Worlds lol