Explore Seattle: Asian Art Museum

Well my good friend, Mary Ann, planned different free outings for her family and was kind to share them with us. One of them included going to the Asian Art Museum at Volunteer Park. I had never been to either the museum or the park so the girls and I went Thurs afternoon. It is free the 1st Thurs of every month but all the parents going forgot that Jan 1st fell on a Thurs the week prior…boo. Oh well just the adults paid and the kids were still free. I enjoyed the museum. The kids enjoyed the activity room. The rest of the museum included me saying things like "don't touch" and "quiet voices like in the library." We were having a good time until the vase room…..

I'm walking ahead of Leighton out of a room full of huge vases, her behind me, and I had just asked her "which colors do you like the best" and reminded her "just look and point, no touching". The security guard in the corner of the room then barked "DON'T TOUCH" and I felt a scared Leighton grab the back of my leg then attempt to fight back tears. She hates to be misunderstood. I looked at the security guard puzzled and said "did she touch it?" and he said yes. I asked Leighton the same question and she replied no. I actually, at this point in her life, trust what she says. She is usually honest and if she is misunderstood her feelings can be hurt which was exactly what I was witnessing. If she did something she wasn't suppose to she usually quietly tries to tell the truth but doesn't cry. Its a different face. I know my daughter, so in this instance I was taking her side and not the security guard. Trust her until she gives me a reason not to. He doesn't know her. He was paranoid the whole time our clan was in the museum. And he just hurt my sweet-natured, soft spoken child's feelings for no reason. Even if she had touched the pots, they weighed 100x her weight and there was no way she could have hurt them. Since when do we care more about a painted pot that is not even functional because it sits in a room all day than a human being's well being? My mama bear instincts came out and I wanted to yell at him for yelling at my child and scaring her. What if he ruined her museum experience and she didn't want to come back!? Another part of me, stubborn part, wanted to storm out and tell the manager on the security guard and vow never to return…..but after walking away to another room and seeing Leighton move on and begin to play again, I cooled off and began to think about how many times I act like the security guard toward other people or even God. I yell for no reason. I become controlling or make accusations. I hurt people too. So I just comforted Leighton and prayed to forgive the security guard. All of this was probably 7 minutes of my life but I think it is moments like this that make up our day and we get to decide how to respond. I was still a little heated and almost teared up telling my mom and Wes what had happened. I was asking questions like how am I going to protect her and Sadie from this fallen world? I can't. Thankfully it is not on me. I don't have to shelter them because I can't. I don't have to beat up other people because it would do no good. Thank you Lord for being the forgiver, the provider, the protector and so on. #preachingtomyself

Other rooms were quiet interesting though….

 The kids liked the activity room. Hindsight… should have stayed in there. 

 Playgrounds always make smiles bright!