To think museums are shit?

[lecce]

Well, not really, but they seem such hard work and not really the best way to see stuff and learn about it.

I'm probably not being coherent as have just got in from an exhausting few days in London with dc (6&3). Before anyone says anything, ds1 has a huge thirst for knowledge and his face lights up at the mention of a trip to a museum, so I'm not saying that it's hell dragging a reluctant child round a museum, as that is just obvious. (I know because we have no choice but to do that to an extent with ds2 and there is no way I would ever make him go to such a place if I didn't have ds1 to consider).

But really, being herded past display after display? There just being so bloody much of it? Every sodding room leading on to yet another and another? The horrible nagging feeling that round the next corner there will be the most amazing thing that will change ds's life and we can't risk missing it? The worry that everyone else's child is getting much more from it than mine because they are just better at it as parents than us? (I know I'm being stupid on that one, but that's just part of the effect these places have on me).

So, AIBU?

YABU- most museums are fab and free but it sounds like you're not enjoying the 'experience' because you're stressing too much about what you SHOULD be getting out of them like a checklist/education.
Lower your expectations, let the kids do what they want, don't worry if it's going in, ignore the crap bits and make the most of the good bits.
Castle museum and railway museum York are great for future reference.
Oh, also you are a tiny bit YANBU cos some are just boring crap

They are overwhelming, particularly the big ones. We go often but tend to do just one room at a time. So, British Museum for eg, we'd do the Anglo Saxon bit one time. Then Egypt etc etc. They draw the stuff, pick their favourite bit, take photos and so on. With regular intervals for coffee and cake.

The last one we went to that I felt we had to do it all was RAF Duxford. It was great, but a bit of a shlep and we were very, very tired by the end of the day.

Don't be so hard on yourself. They'll remember all sorts and it'll probably come out at some random moments!

Ooh shall we name and shame?

I'm reading this and breathing a huge sigh of relief LOL!

We do the bits we like most then have lunch, then do another good bit then wander off and find something else to do.

I love London and yes the Museums are technically free but they are massive and some of it bores me to tears.

Just do the bits you enjoy hun, stop beating yourself up. x

Anyway, National Trust properties are more shit than museums. They really wind me up. No information unless you spend more money on the guidebook. Almost always impossible to get an overview of the history of the place, ie, what you're looking at, unless you look it all up in advance.

Yeah - you are doing it totally wrong (you may never like them but you wont give yourself a chance if you make it a chore). I studied Art History, Arts and Museum management and have worked in and been to countless galleries/museums and even i would not drag myself round huge museums aimlessly. I understand usually people travel somewhere for a one off trip (so can't keep popping back) and try to take it all in. But all this leads to is overload and you can't take anything in and end up miserable.

The way i do it is:

Never go to more than 2 in a day

Research what i want to see first - go to website and see what they've got. Choose 3 things and aim to go to see them. (i often go back to only see the viking chess men at the BM because i just love them so much).

Get there, have breakfast before or on the way. Go in. Get a map and identify which rooms my selection are in. Go to see them as i walk thru the rooms i glance at other things but only look at things which really catch my eye.

Spend a max of 2 hours there.

Go for coffee/lunch

Go for a walk somewhere nice - Regents/hyde park.

Go to second Museum and repeat the mornings rules.

Go home/back to hotel.

What if you have driven miles and the museum is in the middle of nowhere?

We were returning from somewhere on holiday and we happened to drive past a sign for the Haynes Motor Museum. We were only an hour into the journey and I just wanted to get home. Hall after hall of dead cars.

I think you also have to exercise some quality control - i mean who the fuck wants to go to a pencil museum (i think it's in the lakes somewhere). Seriously, don't go.

Isn't there a Heinz museum in London? What's in that, old cans of baked beans?

Or here MrsK?

Sparklingbrook... Sometimes they can be gems, Helicopter Museum (museum of army flying) the children loved, though it does not cater well for a baby (no baby changing facility in the Mens). Bit costly though.

Which museums, OP?

We are very lucky to have so many free ones here! It annoys me when people are ungrateful!

I promise you the Hermitage museum in St petersburg isn't shit!

Zoo's and birds of prey centres are amazing too!

YABU.

Did you go to the lawnmower museum in Birmingham or something?

Get ready the night before & leave as if your going to school/work so you arrive at opening time.We do this so by lunch time we eat our packed lunch & leave as the late morning/ early afternoon crowds arrive. We often gi to the shop or play in the park/open space outside before heading home. We have to do it this way because my son has ASD & doesnt handle noise & crowds very well.

Tip if you are going ti the British Museum there is a huge lunch room underneath the great court area. It can be accessed via stairs from the great court or from a lift near the main entrance & posh gift shop. It has nicer loos, picnic tables, lockers for buggies/ bags & breast feeding rooms. Its open to the public at weejends & holidays.

Ooh is it Kotinka? We were in Southport last year but didn't make it there.

I just find vehicles/planes all undercover in a museum sad nanny. They should be out on the road/in the sky.

I went to the pencil museum as a child. That's all I remember about it... going.

Is a coal mine a museum? Going there was fun, must do it with the children I currently nanny sometime, when youngest is a bit older.

Go to the David Bowie exhibition at the V&A without the kids, just drop them at soft play with a couple of fruit shoots

I agree with the positive review of the railway museum in York. That was one of the most successful we have been to, mainly because it is so big and seemed ok for ds2 to run around shouting a bit. Also, it involved a ride on a steam train. The Viking one in York, though, I found particularly shit - far too cramped and ds2 was terrified and trapped on the car thingy, while ds1 wanted to stop and look at stuff and couldn't.

Someone mentioned National Trust properties. They bring with them a different kind of shit - the trail. We went to Benton last Easter and the hordes of poeple doing the Easter egg hunt nearly put me off for life. I stood aghast as they bullied encouraged their five year olds into 'reading' the clues. It was one of those moments where you look outside yourself and think, 'Is this what I look like? Is this how I behave?' We gave it up and headed for the adventure playground.

It's nice to hear others struggle a little with museums too. I know I just need to lighten up a bit about it all and I suppose it wil be easier when the dc are at more similar stages. DS's face when he saw the blue whale at the NHM was worth it, I suppose .

My guilty pleasure is the NHM with DD looking at all the weirdy stuffed animals. Then cake and coffee. Then home.

Sparkling, I do agree, far prefer museums like Amberley where you can go on a vintage bus.

Finding good museums is a challenge. Anyone found any gems in Surrey/Hampshire/Sussex?

I loved the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth though. It was fascinating. We did it all over 3 days and we all agreed it was fab.

The least worst of the dead car museums is Beaulieu, purely for Top Gear World.

Yes it's so cool now museums are free and there is no pressure to "get our money's worth".
We went to Liverpool waterfront the other day and positively flitted from one museum to the other.

Thank you OP!

I don'tlike them either. Dh and ds love them, i usually find the nearest cafe and i have nice coffee and cake until they finish.
We even had a museum-filled holiday few years ago when we toured Italy and Greece. I stood outside enjoying nice food and people watching.

Your DS loves the museum. You're already doing it all right!