[blindkid] Convention for Kids

[Steve Jacobson]

Holly,

My kids are fifteen and eighteen now and they have gone with us to convention since they were babies.  The answers to all of your questions is "yes."  <smile>  Yes 
there are years I probably would have been best off to have come alone but coming with our kids was better than not coming at all.  Yes, I missed parts of sessions 
to handle melt downs, but really, that didn't happen very often.  Yes, occasionally the kids did get bored.  Having said that, though, these were all small things.  

It was helpful to not be too rigid about things and to go with the flow.  I chose to sometimes risk missing a door prize by leaving a session early to avoid the elevator 
crowds with the kids.  If we got going sloly and missed the first few minutes of a session, I just tried not to make a fuss about it figuring that I needed to pick the 
battles I was going to fight for the week.

Having said all that, both my kids enjoyed NFB Camp when they were ten or under, and that gave them something to do during convention sessions and made a 
huge difference in our ability to participate.  They have some planned activities and generally have a few movies that can be watched.  We had an advantage, 
though, because since our kids started at NFB Camp when they were young, they were already used to it when they were older and had friends they met from 
previous years and actually looked forward to it.  Most older kids won't like the idea of being with other kids they don't know, at least for the first day, but that would 
probably be worth a try because if it works out it will be a big help.  

If you get there during the parents activities, you will find chances to meet up with other families, and that may give your son the opportunity to make a connection 
with another child during conventions.  Over the years, we have had an extra kid with us for a time and our kids have done things with other families during the 
convention.  Sometimes we've gotten our kids to help with volunteer activities during the convention, too.  

There are times we've made them sit through meetings.  Both of our kids have some vision loss and we consider them blind, but they don't see the relevance of a lot 
of the general sessions yet.  Still, there are things that are good for kids to see even if they are not blind to understand why we are there as parents.  For example, 
we try to get our kids to listen to the Presidential Report that Dr. Maurer gives during the afternoon of the first day of general sessions, probably Tuesday.  He is a 
good speaker and there is a lot of cheering but it communicates very well why we come together in a way that kids understand.  Sometimes the initial roll call of 
states is interesting to kids to see and hear people from all over the country, and it is usually a less formal session.  We also relax TV rules some at convention and 
let them chill out some in the room and watch TV.  When our kids were the age of yours and younger, I tried to be sure to schedule some time with them in the pool, 
and at that age, they looked forward to that.  They looked forward to going to the convention knowing there might be five extended swims.  We took the time a 
couple of years ago to take our kids to the place where President Kenedy was killed.  I'm afraid it was more fun and meant more to me than it did to them, but they 
seemed mildly interested.  One year when we were in Atlanta, NFB Camp took the kids to the Coke museum and they really liked that.  There have been other tours 
that they took with and without us that they remember.

For me, the convention has always been a time for me to get recharged.  I learn a lot, of course, but it is probably as much an emotional recharging to see so many 
other blind people doing all kinds of work and knowing that together we are somehow making a difference.  It is therefore worth it to me to bring my kids and make 
some compromises rather than not going, and all in all, it has worked out well for us.  He's going to be bored sometimes, and if you are like me, that will bother you 
some, but I can remember being bored by a lot of things as a kid but I lived through it.  However, there are probably going to be things that he'll like.  If he is blind, 
seeing lots of blind people moving around, doing things, talking about their jobs, seeing all the things in the exhibit hall, will be very interesting to him, or at least good 
for him even if he is a little bored.  If he is not blind, there are other siblings there that he will connect with and will still find things to do.

I hope you find this both helpful and encouraging.  I recognize that kids are all different, but if having your child with you means you can go, I think you will find it to 
be worth it if you think ahead a little.this is both realistic and encouraging.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:18:57 -0500, holly miller wrote:

>Hi!
>I'm going to try really really really hard to make it to convention this
>year, it will be my first one.
>Part of me would like to come by myself so I can fully take in the various
>seminars and networking.
>The other part says there's no way I can hook up child care for a week so if
>I'm going, he's going LOL!  I don't have anyone who can travel with us to
>kid wrangle.

>I'm concerned 6-7 days is going to be overwhelming for him though especially
>since I don't know what to expect.  He's 9 1/2 and in 3rd grade.  Could you
>tell me what your kid's experiences have been?  What kind of activities are
>set up for this age range?  Do the kids have to sit through a lot of the
>seminars with the parents?  Did you find you had to skip things to keep your
>child from melting down?


>Love to hear your thoughts!
>Holly
>aka Hank's mom
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