This intention does not have to mean a determined commitment at all costs but rather as part of a wish list.
This in mind our offspring, when young and reasonably receptive were taken (in no particular chronological order) to such delights as The Millenium Dome , Natural History Museum, Magma, Legoland Windsor, The Earth Centre, Tintagel Castle, Other Castles and Military Forts, Edinburgh Zoo, Tate Modern, Science Centre Glasgow, Imperial War Museum Manchester, Eureka in Halifax, Bradford Centre for Film and Photography, National Trust and English Heritage sites, various official and unofficial Sea Life Centres, Torture Exhibition, RAF Museums, Motor Show, Eden Camp, Forbidden Corner, Kinderland, Flamingo Land, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, York Railway Museum, London Eye, Vindolanda, Iona, Hull Tidal Barrier and Australia Zoo. (There are just too many to remember)
There is a bit of a pattern in the venues if you consider my own particular interests in all things natural, war and conflict, inventions, industrial processes and media.
I do feel however that I am beyond reproach for being in any way selfish or in manipulating the thoughts of impressionable children by taking them to such places. The fact that our youngsters, now all in their 20's have turned out as good and responsible citizens I attribute in part to the stuff that they were exposed to in their formative years (this excludes trauma and post stress disorder from witnessing an aircraft crash and other collateral events inevitably encountered when out and about).
There is inevitably a price to be paid for such an active programme of entertainment.
Most of the aforementioned attractions do of course have an entrance fee which for a family of our above average size (statistically) can be a tidy sum but this is absorbed in the normal weekly or special holiday budget for such things. Travelling to and fro incurs petrol and ancillary costs but these are known quantities and controllable by careful driving habits. Lets face it, an estate car fully laden can only be driven so as to maximise fuel economy. Even refreshments can be to within a controllable cost base if there is advanced purchase of soft drinks, crisps and other snacks in packed lunch or loose buffet form.
Most of the above do not require any special equipment or clothing which can otherwise represent a big capital outlay.
I have been known to go to great lengths to research attractions of a free or discretionary contribution type but as most parents know such places are few and far between.
The principal fear of parents remains in the guise of the Gift Shop.
The children can seem perfectly content to trail around the exhibits and operate the interactive displays such as an earthquake simulator, steel production process, TV news broadcast studio and Lego car driving school and there is a tangible increase in their motor skills and appreciation of the world at large.
However, upon seeing the delights and enticements of the Gift Shop something strange overpowers them and brings out the worst excesses of consumerism and materialism.
This can be very distressing for a parent to witness.
All Gift Shop managers are extremely cunning as they know that in order for parents to extract themselves and their charges necessitates a purchase or multiple purchases. These are typically well above reasonable pocket money levels.
The range of goods on sale are generally 10% relevant to the attraction with the bulk brought in from the sort of emporium that supplies tacky seafront shops or London souvenir kiosks.
I try to steer interest towards the basic minimum purchase of a notepad and pencil topped with an eraser but this is difficult under the frowns and condemning glances of the shop staff as in "what a tight and unloving dad".
Our children did collect Beanie Babies which, unfortunately form part of the 90% of the stock of Gift Shops and so an exit strategy could be very expensive indeed.
One particular theme of item that I was keen to encourage was toy animals.
Regardless of their relevance to the attraction they were always present and within acceptable price limits. The quality did vary significantly and as a discerning parent there was some angst in recommending the more realistic figures at full price rather than slightly cheaper, poorer ones being quite scary representations of a shark, cow, dinosaur or freakish mutant combination of them all.
If the calibre of a childs' upbringing can be adjudged by their collection of toy animal figures then I offer in our parental defence the following photographic collage.
How many Meerkats can you see? Answer via the Comments button please. No prize offered
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