Enjoying the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

This week, the Summer Camp took the campers to the Henry Ford Museum and to Greenfield Village. Embarrassingly to say, I have never took my child there like most parents of the children that I chaperoned. My children have visited there only on school trips, and later after my class of campers recapped the trip, I advised some of the children to ask their parents to bring them back. Most of the children said that their parents would not bring them there. I was surprised and shocked with their responses when remembering during an earlier class conversation some weeks ago, the majority of the class revealed that they have been to Disney World in Florida. Although I saw a lot, being on that excursion opened my eyes to what I can do as a parent.

I want to take my children to Disney World, but I definitely know that even as tight it is now for me, I can still take them back to The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. You can not see most of that place on a school trip. Even with a rambunctious group of six eight-year-old boys, we saw a lot, but we missed the Rose Parks Exhibit. I did enjoy the car and airplane exhibits that the boys wanted to see the most.

Later after talking to my children, they informed me that they had not seen it either. I am going to make a point to take them before the summer is over. I also am sending my children to overnight camp with a Christian camp for a week. I attended overnight camp three times during my childhood, and with the assistance of their godmother, I was able to afford to pay for it. My parents were smart and fortunate because they found free programs during my childhood. Back when my children were little, with my ex and my combined income, we were informed a couple of times that we did not qualify. I regret not doing more research and pushing back then, but I am so glad to be blessed with friends that truly cares about the development and well being of my children.

I am going to also push my children into participating in more programs, such as Project Upward Bound and Youthville, along with getting them to volunteer in community based programs also. Right now they are attending summer school, but I still need to keep them busy. Next year, my daughter has a chance to work and travel, and we will definitely take advantage of that opportunity also. As a parent, this week reminded me that I need to be more of an advocate for my children, and to keep them more involved.