A few weekends ago, we woke up to rain. And rain. And more rain. It was cloudy, cold, and damp. Hardly the kind of day you’d want to spend strolling outside. So we opted for a day in, at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Cy was in awe from the get-go. The cavernous and imposing classical lobby with it’s marble columns, high ceilings and wide open space just begged for a game of ‘catch me if you can’. Cy was running around in circles, giggling and laughing, earning smiles and laughs from other visitors. Then came the best part – the dinosaur exhibit! He was in love. Frantically pointing in each and every direction, saying ‘ba!’ It was adorable. He wasn’t scared of giant scary looking bones, no. He was fascinated. And all the glass exhibit cases full of taxidermy animals and icky specimens were perfect for leaning against and kissing (cannot even imagine how much Windex they go through!). Cy would just get so excited, and start running around in circles, finally collapsing on the floor for the grand finale – the humping of the floor. Yes, he would lie down on the floor, face down, spread eagle, and start humping it. It was hilarious. and embarrassing at the same time. (Yes, that’s my child humping the cold marble floor, don’t mind us.) Strange and kind of gross, but at least he wasn’t throwing tantrums.

We didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or walk away pretending he was someone else’s. So we settled on laughing. It was completely unexpected, and he was so full of unbridled joy, Who were we to kill that fun?

We ended the day in the ROM’s family friendly cafeteria – french fries (with delicious garlic mayo dip!), cheeseburgers and fruit salad (the watermelon was a particular hit with Cy.) We were a little worried he was too young for the ROM – he did only last an hour and half before overstimulation set in – but it turned out to be a great day. He loved the museum, and we loved that he loved it. We love going to museums and galleries and are so glad to have passed that gene on to him.

I’d say he’s about ready for the AGO’s exhibit on Existentialism. Ha. Ok. Maybe next year.