NYC Educator: Family Time

NYC Educator: Family Time:

Family Time

Today I played fiddle for a band at Terrhune Orchards in Princeton, New Jersey. There was apple picking and pumpkin painting and all sorts of kid-friendly stuff so I brought not only my family, but also a friend and her 3-year-old daughter. It's a nice day trip for kids, though I'm not sure how much longer they'll be doing it. It was a bit on the cold side out there.

We had to play four hours, and on the way back we were starving. Route 1 is full of chain restaurants and we picked the one that offended the most people the least. They had Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap, which made it seem a little better than it really was. But what I really noticed was the family that took the booth next to us.

They had two young children, one of whom was crying loudly. A waitress tried to calm her down, telling her about the wonderful coloring contest they were having, but she was having none of it. In fact, she wouldn't calm down until Mom and Dad plopped a laptop in front of her and started playing video on it. Their son, a little older and a little calmer, knew how to open his and was  already wearing his