Member Spotlight: The Lang Family
In bringing our monthly Member Spotlights back, we want to give members, like the Lang family, an opportunity to share their experiences during the pandemic and what they look forward to the most when the Museum reopens! First up is member Robin Lang, her husband Paul and their triplet toddlers, Jack, James and Oliver! The Lang family were gifted a membership in 2018 for their boys’ 2nd birthdays and enjoyed visiting the Museum weekly before the pandemic. Now, they’re making an effort to instill different styles of play and creativity for each of their toddlers at home and share their favorite art activities. Get to know more about this fun family of triplets!
Tell us about you and your family!
Robin: My husband, Paul, and I have triplet toddlers named Jack, James and Oliver. Although they’re triplets, our boys all have very different personalities, and the Museum offered a favorite activity for everyone whether it was art, climbing, playing with cars or exploring a play house. Before the pandemic, visiting the Museum during member only hours on Sunday mornings was a favorite family activity. My husband and I work full-time at area universities, and the boys usually visited the Museum with their au pair at least once, if not twice, during the week, and always on Friday mornings for the 10am Toddler Time. We dearly miss the Museum and hope to be some of the first in-line at its reopening!
What brought you to the Museum?
R: We’ve been members of The New Children’s Museum since our extended family gifted us a membership in 2018 for the boys’ 2nd birthday (they’re now 3.5 years old). We love the wide array of fun educational activities offered. I can think of nowhere else I can bring my triplet toddlers where it’s okay for them to explore and climb on everything. As a mother of three little kids, it’s a relief to be in a safe environment where I don’t have to worry that they’re getting into something not intended for kids. Almost everything at the Museum is designed for kids their age – what a gift!
What is your family’s favorite Museum experience?
R: We love the giant knitted climbing structure (Whammock!) on the top floor. It was fun to watch the boys progress from being scared of it to climbing all the way to the top on their own. Also, last January 2020 we visited the Museum in the morning before walking over to participate in the Women’s March at the County Administration Building. That morning at the Museum my son Jack brought to me a copy of the Museum’s children’s book, My First Book of Feminism (For Boys), to read to him. I purchased a copy of the book for our home, and it’s become a family favorite. As the mother of three boys, it’s important to me to instill respect in my sons for women and to teach them that women’s rights are human rights, and I love that the Museum is a partner in that
How does your family keep art, play and creativity alive at home during the Museum’s closure?
R: We have art supplies readily available and a good backyard for running around in, playing with kites, swinging on their swing set, riding tricycles and digging in the dirt with their toy trucks. We’ve also watched a few of the Museum’s activity videos on Instagram. The boys really loved making colored macaroni necklaces as part of the Museum’s Toddler Time at Home program.
What does your family look forward to the most when the Museum reopens?
R: We’re looking forward to the variety of activities available for all three of our boys, who each have different strengths and interests, in a very child-friendly environment. We also love checking out the new exhibits and taking a look at the great children’s books located all over the Museum. I’m a university librarian and believe deeply in the power of reading to kids, so I appreciate that books are kept in a variety of different places in the Museum.
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Interested in being featured in our Member Spotlight next month? Please fill out our member spotlight questionnaire! Don’t have a membership? Learn more about our membership levels and perks here.
