The Littleton Museum

Denver locals, if you have opportunity to explore the Littleton Museum with your children, I encourage you to do so.  Though they may roll their eyes and act bored in the museum, I believe that it will build a nice platform to discuss some of the entitlement issues of the current generation.  Here are some talking points from the museum.....

*The Printing Press: Yes, that's right, kids, the internet didn't exist back then.  In fact, the only way people could get their news was to read the newspaper.

*Milking Stools: You couldn't just go to King Soopers and buy a gallon of milk.  The milk had to be milked by hand from the cows.

*Butter Churn: Buying a stick of butter wasn't so simple.  You had to churn the butter with a crank.

*Old Farm Equipment: Nope, no engines to run tractors and such.  Everyone was run by either pushing it by hand or by horses pulling the equipment.

*The Old Schoolhouse: All the kids, regardless of age, were in one room.  There was no AC and the heat was from a wood burning stove.

*No Air Conditioning:  Period.

*Wood burning stove: If you wanted heat, you had to chop the wood and keep your eye on the wood burning stove. If you wanted to cook, you had to chop the wood.  If you wanted to boil water, you had to chop the wood.  Manual labor was required at every turn around.

*Gardening and Hunting: If you didn't know how to do it or "didn't like it" you didn't eat.

*Blacksmith:  The amazing things they can do with metal are so neat to see.  To listen to them discuss how many things they were used for was incredible.

*No bathrooms: Not a single one.  Go look at the 1860s and 1890s home.  There was a bowl for water in the bedroom to wash your face, etc but no toilet in the house...why?  Look it up.

These are just a few of the talking points you can discuss with your kids.  It's a great way to give them a true start to appreciate what they have now and the conveniences our generations have.