Colonial Williamsburg

On our vacation, we decided to spend a day at Colonial Williamsburg.  It is a living history experience, a recreation of a colonial town.  You can go visit the blacksmith shop, eat at a colonial tavern and even ride in a horse drawn carriage. It was a place I had enjoyed as a child and Dave had never been there. We thought Will would really enjoy it. He loves history and interactive learning.

I think it is important to share that I went against one of my core parenting ideals on this day.  I pushed it too far and tried to make the day last too long.  After dinner, we signed up for a haunted tour because Will thought it looked awesome.  I agreed that it would be super fun and we thought Mikey would be okay watching a DVD with Dave in the air-conditioned car.

Unfortunately, once Mikey got in the car, he thought he was headed back to the hotel and he was very upset. We had already promised Will he could go on the tour and we were in a bad spot. 

To Be Honest

I can’t remember whether we had to give up and go home or if Dave and I switched places and he went on the tour with Will.  Either way, it was a bad end to a great day.  I usually try to avoid situations like that because it sours the memory of the experience. More importantly, it is almost like Mikey and Will ended up getting punished for being so great all day…that wasn’t the intention, but everyone’s day ended badly and it wasn’t really necessary.

Maybe I can make it up to both of them, by taking Will on the haunted tour one day while Mikey is happily engaged in his regular routine…we’ll see. Sometimes we can’t make up for our parenting fails, but I will always try.

Note

If you are interested in visiting Colonial Williamsburg, there is an accessibility tab on their website so you can plan in advance and make the trip a success.

If I got to do it over again, I would stay for two days and make them shorter and easier to manage…I wish someone had told me that before I went.