When my son was little we lived downtown. I loved it. I was a student and we lived in the dorms, which was economical. It also meant we had no yard, but I preffered this as I felt safe up high in a building with buzzers, etc rather then on a first floor somewhere alone at night. On snow days USM would cancel school, and as my son went to the the daycare at USM, and I worked in the Women's Center, it meant that EVERYTHING was consistantly cancelled. No running around finding daycare for work if school cancelled or vice versa, as the 3 of them were all at the same place and under the same management (who would be shutting down the university on snow days). Yay! So on those days, I'd bundle him up and we'd go for a walk. We'd hit Starbucks, maybe, or coffee by design for hot chocolate and cookies. Or go to lunch at Norm's or Mesa Verde. It was lovely because everything was spaced out just enough to enjoy the snow while still ducking in from the cold as all the good places were less then 1/2 a block away from each other or something.
The Children's Museum was great for a day like this (& it was also great in the warmer months, as they had a fenced in activity area and we didn't have a yard). I always put a request for a membership on a Xmas list for my mom or other fmaily. It was only $35 a year then so it paid for itself pretty quickly. Not everyone has helpful family and freinds as a resource, or if they do, they might have bigger needs on their plate.
One thing that always bothered me was how strict they were about who could use the membership. Seeing as how our family included ONLY 2 people and the membership cost was the same no matter how many were in your family, I thought it should be fine if I wanted to bring another child so they could enjoy it too. However, if I brought another single mom and her kid, we'd get questioned about our family. Once I was told "the membership only covers everyone who lives under one roof." well, that meant us that particular day: RaeAnn and Eedy lived in our building. One roof. Four People. Two adults, Two toddlers...what's the problem? How about if I wanted to bring my sister and nephew (age 5 in 2001) who came up for my college graduation and were staying in my apartment? By then I had the more expensive pass, which allowed us to use other museums as part of our membership, like the Museum of Science in Boston or the Explorium in Mobile, AL. I brought my sister and her child to the MoS Boston, and they never batted an eye about the family unit/membership thing like Portland had.
Equally frustrating was that if I wanted to bring Mike, My son's godfather, we were not questioned this way as it was assumed we were a family unit (I didn't want us to be questioned, mind you, but Mike was going to keep me compnay and play with my son, whereas another mom and kid who could use a day at the museum were supposed to pay rather then use our pass). On the other hand, if I brought my son's GODMOTHER and HER CHILD (the same relationship to my kid as Mike is), they were expected to pay. When my son's father, who was visitting, brought him...they were fine. hmmm. If I brought the guy I was seeing to keep us company, we looked enough like a family to slip under the radar. hmmm.If my mother went with my son and I(and she had purchased the membership for us by the way) she was asked to pay without being asked if we all lived under the same roof, and if we did...grandparents were an iffy area. Once I asked the staff to if they could define who my family is for me, and I was told "the person who purchased the pass and that person's immediate children." hmmm....so that would mean my mom could bring me, and we could play on the fire truck for free (at ages 25 and 52), but we would have to pay for my son, age 3. That defintion doesn't work for me. At some point I called to discuss our family unit and all the questioning and discuss the different types of family, living situations, etc and was told "well, it's not meant to make anyone feel uncomfortable, it's so that the pass is used only for your family and not to bring your neighbor's kid, etc." What????? My response was "we're only two people. I would think you want all children to have the opportunity to enjoy the museum reguardless of who paid for the pass seeing as how we have room in our party for that." I eventually wrote a letter asking them to think about this policy, and noting that if 2 people in our party used the pass available at the public library, then that takes THAT option away from another family just to appease this silly policy. (it was like 8 years ago, not recently, I didn't have anything to do with the new options below. I am really glad to see there are now several different options available now. I am not trying to take credit. Just noting the positive change in how this is approached).
I'm really glad they are offering this option now. Sometime I'm going to take my kid there, where many of his early memories were made, and we're going to donate the exact amount of money needed to purchase a membership for a family to enjoy.
Please note the info below if you'd like to help or if you know someone in need. There is also a 1 day pass you can check out from the Portland Public Library when it is available:
Scholarship Memberships
Ready to build at Tree to Timber! Through the generous support of local families and businesses, the Museum & Theatre is able to offer scholarship family memberships to families in need.
If you receive public assistance and/or have compelling personal circumstances and would like to apply for a scholarship membership, please send your request in writing to:
Suzanne Olson, Executive Director
Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine
PO Box 4041, Portland, ME 04101
If you would like to help underserved children enjoy the Museum please consider purchasing an $85 memberships for a family in need.
Click here to donate!
for all the different kinds of memberships, go here http://www.childrensmuseumofme.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment