However, there was one trip when Theo slowed all us down, even his read-every-word father. We were visiting the exhibits at the Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston. He was just learning to read and attempted to read every sign. I mean every word on every sign he could see. And there was a lot to see in the Astrodome. Did I mention that he was just learning to read? Meaning there was a lot of sounding out going on. We didn't want to discourage this new skill that he was so excited about, so there was a lot of trading off and doing other things with Wally while one of us stayed with the reader. It was a long day, but in hindsight it was a sign of things to come. Soon thereafter, Theo became an avid reader.
Below is a post about a visit to a museum where I first noticed the different styles of visitors in my family.
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MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012
Visiting a Museum
Yesterday, we visited the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pennsylvania. It is a small museum that focuses on key people in the history of the Appalachian Trail. Even in this small, limited-topic museum, the different viewing styles of my family were evident loud and clear.
Ward is a reader. He reads and studies each and every item thoroughly. Wally is a talker. He looks at the exhibits until he can find someone to talk to. Theodore is a waiter. He skims the exhibits and then waits until the others finish. What I style am I? I'd like to say that I'm the perfect blend of all three, but you'll have to ask my family to be sure.
What is your style?
Ward is a reader. He reads and studies each and every item thoroughly. Wally is a talker. He looks at the exhibits until he can find someone to talk to. Theodore is a waiter. He skims the exhibits and then waits until the others finish. What I style am I? I'd like to say that I'm the perfect blend of all three, but you'll have to ask my family to be sure.
What is your style?
I'm like you and Mary Poppins--practically perfect in every way. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf I'm really interested in the subject, then I'm a reader, but mostly I'm a skimmer. I don't usually like to talk with the docents--I feel like they slow me up on what I really want to see. Sometimes I find one who I click with, though, and that can be fun.
I learned last summer that my daughter thinks she is supposed to remember everything she reads at a museum, so I've had to encourage her to use the experience to get general knowledge and that there will not be a test ...
That must have stressful for your daughter to think she had to remember everything see shes. Sort of takes all of the fun out of it.
DeleteI usually enjoy docents because they often do the highlights without me having to read every detail. Also, if there's an overview movie of anywhere we visit, we usually see it first.
I guess everyone has their style of absorbing a visit to a museum or other interesting place. I would not be the read every word type.
ReplyDeleteMy sister is a read everything type also. I have often suggested that she and my husband need to visit a museum together.
DeleteIt depends on the exhibit. Some I'll read every word because I want to know more, others I'll skim to get the gist of the information and move on.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm more like you. Sometimes I skim and sometimes a read everything. What is interesting is to talk about what we saw in the end. Sometimes, I find there were some really interesting things to learn on the exhibits, I just skimmed. That's why it's nice to do multiple visits to a place if it happens to be not too far away.
DeleteFor me it totally depends on the museum and the actual exhibit. If I am in a room of portraits painted by some of the masters, I can spend a ridiculous amount of time studying the flesh and wondering how in blazes they managed to make it appear luminous. If it is a sports hall of fame, well I can skim and become the waiter. Other times we have been in historical or technological museums and I have been the reader, and if someone is around me who knows about things I will become the talker. (It probably helps that I do not have a shy bone in my body.)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of luminous paintings, have you seen "Tim's Vermeer"?. It's a documentary about Tim, who tries to paint a Vermeer (known for his light) using optical methods. Very interesting.
DeleteI have not but I will look for it. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI think I would be a waiter. I love your story about Theo reading every word! That's so adorable.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of livestock there, so I'd thought he would be interested in all of the animals. Turns out that he was more interested in the signs. I guess when you finally unlock the code to reading, it is pretty exciting.
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