I laughed a little to myself today when I read an article about a local head start field trip to the local Price Chopper. While I applaud the head start teachers for trying to come up with a way to make something the children do probably weekly with Mom and Dad seem interesting, it made me realize what a post 9-11 world really means. When I was a kid we went to Ottawa almost every year, we went to museums and Upper Canada Village. Now with the borders all but closed, it is a much bleaker story. That being said though, there are lots of local places that most people do not realize exist. For instance there are four local colleges right here that each have interesting things for children to see. SUNY Potsdam has a planetarium, bio museum, geology museum, art gallery, and many other things to see. Not only that but every town has a local museum that tells the local stories of that town. I bet no kid in grade school today ever got to open the infamous Norwood Tuba Mailbox--it’s now in the Norwood Museum. I just think, maybe there are more interesting things children can do around here than go to the grocery store. I know my son will be in head start soon and I am not sure how I would feel if he spent a whole day doing something I take him to do every week.