Mom Guilt

Mom's carry enough guilt getting by from day to day.  We do not need strangers adding to our load.  And that's what happened the other day when I was surfing the net.  I saw an article of the top 10 places every kid should see.  I consider my kids pretty well traveled for where we live.  If we lived on the east coast maybe they would have been to Europe by now, but since it's now about $600 to fly from here to Florida, I think that's out of the question.  They have been out of the country several times and traveled as far south as Belize.  They have passports.  They have photo albums filled with their grand adventures. 

I should have left well enough alone.  But I was curious, so I clicked on the link to the story to see if they had been to ANY of the top 10 places.  Yikes!  Apparently I'm sorely lacking as a parent.  But here is the list anyway, and my attempt at making myself feel better by listing places they have been that are sort of like the places on the list!  Enjoy, and try not to feel guilty if your kids haven't been to any of these places either!

Budget Travel

10 Places Every Kid Should See 

1.      The Field Museum—Chicago, IL--sorry,  Museum of the Rockies is going to have to do.

2.   Sea World--the list said San Antonio.  Mine have been to San Diego--twice--so I'm going to count that as a YES!

3.   Hawaii Volcanoes National Park—not gonna happen.

4.   US Space and Rocket Center—Well, we planned to see Cape Canaveral (which must be similar to this place) on a trip to FL once, but the tour was cancelled.  We tried.

5.   Carlsbad Caverns—we went spelunking in South Dakota when the kids were little.  As the prince said, while we were underground, “This is the worst place on Earth.”  No need to repeat that adventure.

6.    Golden Gate Bridge—their mom was there recently.  Close enough.

7.   Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art—the fact that both kids will have traveled from MT to NYC at age 14 is going to have to suffice.  Given all they see in that city, if they miss the MET, that’s okay.

8.   National Museum of American History—sorry, the Smithsonian is going to have to be okay as a replacement.

9.   Arches National Park in UT.  The fact that they’ve been to Utah repeatedly but never to this park has to count for something.  The other great thing is that they’ve been to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, which looks a lot like the photos of Arches, so I’m calling that a “close enough”.

       10. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute—okay, sorry.  I’ve got nothin’ on this one.