In hindsight, taking two energetic 4-year-old boys to the Harvard Museum of Natural History on a rainy autumn Sunday might not have been the wisest choice. Predictably, a game of “chase” erupted in the arthropod exhibit, sparking debates over whose turn it was to press the interactive video buttons. They gawked at jars of preserved reptiles, gleefully declaring, “Yucky! That’s YUCKY!”
Yet, amidst the chaos, the museum’s abundant “mounted specimens”—lions, elephants, zebras, bears, and even towering skeletons—captured their attention. Surprisingly, the boys spent more time orbiting their respective parents than each other. In one rare, tranquil moment, Mr. P and Little Boy sat side by side, sketching a stuffed giraffe with uncharacteristic focus. A fleeting calm in the storm of youthful energy.
