After three days, 8-year-old Matt put his foot down. ”I`m not going on one more stupid tour,” he declared. ”The White House is boring.”
I cajoled him into going anyway. After all, we had tickets for the special VIP tour (available free to anyone who requests them in advance from their representative).
”How can you visit Washington and not see the White House?” I pleaded. I promised a candy bar afterward. I wondered if I was being ridiculous. But to my surprise and his, Matt enjoyed his White House visit. Thanks to a terrific tour guide, he and his 6-year-old sister even learned something.
”I really like all those different colored rooms,” Regina said. Matt kept talking about how President Theodore Roosevelt had boxing matches in the East Room.
They couldn`t care less about the china, the paintings or the furniture, though they did like the piano with its gold eagle legs. But after their hourlong visit, Matt and Regina understood the key role the White House has played in our history-and who lives there. As far as I was concerned, my mission was accomplished.
Taking an educational trip to Washington isn`t relaxing. But an educational trip is worth the effort. The kids will absorb more than you think. It can even be fun. It just takes a little work.
First, let the kids read up on Washington before you go and let them choose some things they want to see.
Matt, for example, couldn`t wait to see the FBI (tickets for scheduled tours are also available free from your representative in Congress or your senator; other tours are given on a first-come first-served basis from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday; call 202-324-3447) and the ”Star Trek” exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum (get your tickets-also free-early in the day at the museum).
Regina wanted to see the first ladies` gowns at the Smithsonian Institution, though her enthusiasm paled when she learned she couldn`t try them on.
Three books might help your children get ready: ”Kidding Around Washington, D.C.,” by Anne Pederson (John Muir Publications, $9.95) and ”A Kid`s Guide to Washington, D.C.” (Gulliver Books, $6.95). Those talk about various attractions in language kids understand, complete with simple maps and engaging illustrations.
I used ”Frommer`s Washington, D.C., With Kids,” by Beth Rubin (Prentice Hall Travel, $17) invaluable. It was the guide I carried around with me in Washington.
Then, after you`ve read up on Washington, here`s a rule of thumb: Plan your itinerary, then cut it in half. Remember, everything takes longer with kids, and they need time out to play. Ours hit the hotel pool at every opportunity.
We skipped the Capitol and the Supreme Court, for example, figuring our children would appreciate visits there more in a few years.
But we made time for the National Zoological Park specifically to meet the giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing.
And we even made a detour to the out-of-the-way Washington Dolls` House & Toy Museum (5236 44th St. N.W.), where Regina and her 16-month-old sister, Melanie, were delighted by all of the dollhouses and antique toys on display. You might want to consider taking a Tourmobile-bright blue-and-white sightseeing trams that stop at the major attractions and even go as far as Arlington Cemetery and Mt. Vernon. For $8.50 ($4 for children under 12) you can get on and off as often as you like as the tourmobile stops at the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Smithsonian, among other places.
However you get around, remember, you don`t have to see everything. Consider the Smithsonian`s 15 museums and galleries. (The Smithsonian Information Center has free ”Planning your Smithsonian Visit” packages; call 202-357-2700.)
You`ll make yourself crazy if you try to see every exhibit. It`s better if the children enjoy a few key attractions. Take them into the National Air and Space Museum to gawk at Charles Lindbergh`s Spirit of St. Louis. Don`t skip the dinosaurs in the Museum of Natural History. Remember, Howdy Doody is in the Museum of American History.
Regina headed for Dorothy`s red slippers from the ”Wizard of Oz” in the Museum of American History, while Matt spent his time studying war memorabilia-from George Washington`s tent to swords, guns and uniforms and the Revolutionary War gunboat the Philadelphia, the oldest in the nation.
Still, they had the most fun at the Smithsonian`s old-fashioned ice cream parlor eating sarsparilla ice cream sodas and riding the old carousel on the mall (tickets are $1 a ride). Wherever you are, give the children a chance to explore and to learn at their own pace.
Early one evening, Regina stood pensively eyeing the nearly 60,000 names etched into the black granite panels of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, little flags and flowers placed at the base by visitors.
”It`s sad that so many people died in that war,” she said.
Earlier, and despite the 100-degree heat, Matt had been mesmerized at Arlington National Cemetery as we watched the changing of the honor guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That ceremony, Matt decided, was the high point of his trip. He was full of questions about John and Robert Kennedy, too, after visiting their graves at Arlington.
I didn`t intend our trip to be a lesson on the horrors of war or assassination, but those experiences taught the children more in a few minutes than anything I might tell them.
They patiently waited 45 minutes to take the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument (expect to wait, no matter what time you go), as their dad explained why George Washington is considered the father of our country. They stood staring at Abraham Lincoln`s statue while I explained how he had freed the slaves.
That was the point, I realized. They were learning by just being there, touching and watching.
