First, you know you're in Austin when the staff at the Children's Museum has strangely colored hair and some extra piercings - but yet all obviously enjoy their jobs and interacting with the pre-school set. I was trying to imagine what this young, alternative group of adults would talk about with their friends at night.
To my surprise, Greg was not the only dad there - on a Tuesday at 10:30AM. I suppose some of the other guys could have been nannies (why not?), but either way, a stay-at-home dad or a make caregiver certainly would have a good sized cohort here.
And then came the moms ... and grandmoms. The first lady who struck up a conversation with me was of an indeterminable age. Her face looked older with heavier wrinkles and thick foundation, but she was wearing skinny jeans and Ugg boots. I was kind of curious, I admit, what it would be like being at 45 year old mom, until she mentioned how her daughter worked three days a week.
One mom was bling-ed out, with sparkles on her sneakers, on the back pockets of her jeans, and on a big flower on her head band. One was quite pregnant and shepherding three boys under five around. Two were engrossed in their iPhones while their kids enjoyed running around. Some looked like they had stepped out of fashion magazines while others dressed more comfortably for crawling on the floor.
One in her early twenties commented to me how every time she and her two year old son came, she only ever sat on a bench while he spent two hours engrossed with the model train - she didn't think that after working her way through UT, this is how she would pass a morning each week. Her appeals to interest him in the motion exhibit or the play kitchen fell on deaf ears.
After two years in a stratified society, I enjoyed the mixing of kids and parents from so many different backgrounds. And the "artisan sausage" with huckleberry compote and applewood smoked cheddar for lunch after (http://hotdogscoldbeer.com/).
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