Field trip
Taking my kids out for special events always proves to be a stresser for me. They're good kids, but they're all very independently-minded and strong-willed, and that can be a real problem if you're in a place that's crowded with lots of other kids.
That's what happened to us yesterday when we brought the kids to the Museum of Science in Cambridge. Great place, and very family-friendly (albeit expensive), but we could hardly go five steps without our kids jostling with other kids for access to the exhibits. In Emme's case, this more often than not ended in tears. Bob was bored at points and just tired of walking around at others, and James was off the wall -- insistent on pushing every button or flicking every switch on every exhibit he could find. A few times he barrelled into other kids or grown-ups on his way to the exhibits; more than a few times he was barrelled into as well.
All told, they had a good time, and that was gratifying. But frankly, I was happy when the end of the day rolled around and we got back into the van to go home. Most relaxed I'd felt all day.
One thing I was happy to see was that they're still using Macs in the multimedia exhibits there, even the new ones that have been installed since we were there last about a year ago. Whoever's doing the development is still depending on Mac OS Classic, however -- there wasn't too much OS X stuff that I could tell.