Museums are for FOOLS
Remember the classic Simpsons Christmas episode, you know, the one that revolved around the creation of an overly-endearing fuzzy pal called FUNZO?
Well, there's a great line in there, where the corporate slimebags are secretly test-marketing Funzo to the unsuspecting students of Springfield Elementary. After watching Milhouse play with his favorite childhood toy, the male sleaze says , "Good for you, Milhouse- ignoring the recommended age."
Ahh, but we're not all forward-thinking visionaries like Millie and male corporate weasel. Most things that come with a recommended age SHOULD in fact be kept strictly for those age groups. Toys with small parts, for example, should not be given to small children or people dumb or hungry enough to put them in their mouths. Circular saws should be kept out of reach until the child enters the age of shop class.
But there are certain things which should come with a recommended age and are sadly lacking in such instructional packaging. The Museum of Natural History is one such example. I think a 6 and up label needs to be squarely plastered along the front of the entrance. I tried to take 2 kids, aged 2 and 4, through to see the dinosaur bones and the giant blue whale along the ceiling, and the experience of arguing with this one to look and dragging the other through his tantrum in the hallway has convinced me that there is an age that is too young for introduction into the world of culture and high-falutin society. So I think they should at least have it on their website (in place of the misleading and ill-advised " Children (2-12)" price) that perhaps you should consider leaving the kids at home, school, or daycare whilst you enhance your own mature brain.
Well, there's a great line in there, where the corporate slimebags are secretly test-marketing Funzo to the unsuspecting students of Springfield Elementary. After watching Milhouse play with his favorite childhood toy, the male sleaze says , "Good for you, Milhouse- ignoring the recommended age."
Ahh, but we're not all forward-thinking visionaries like Millie and male corporate weasel. Most things that come with a recommended age SHOULD in fact be kept strictly for those age groups. Toys with small parts, for example, should not be given to small children or people dumb or hungry enough to put them in their mouths. Circular saws should be kept out of reach until the child enters the age of shop class.
But there are certain things which should come with a recommended age and are sadly lacking in such instructional packaging. The Museum of Natural History is one such example. I think a 6 and up label needs to be squarely plastered along the front of the entrance. I tried to take 2 kids, aged 2 and 4, through to see the dinosaur bones and the giant blue whale along the ceiling, and the experience of arguing with this one to look and dragging the other through his tantrum in the hallway has convinced me that there is an age that is too young for introduction into the world of culture and high-falutin society. So I think they should at least have it on their website (in place of the misleading and ill-advised " Children (2-12)" price) that perhaps you should consider leaving the kids at home, school, or daycare whilst you enhance your own mature brain.


