Astronaut!

Last night we went to the 10th anniversary party of the International Space Station. Ten years on orbit is a really long time. Good for us for controlling our processes such that it's still safe and gunk-free (for the most part). It still seems new to me!

While sitting in an auditorium waiting for a series of speeches from the world's space agencies, our beautiful toddler shouts out, ASTRONAUT! Not just once, but over and over. We got comments, "how cute! how sweet!" She was proud of herself!

Like a good toddler, she behaved herself as long as she could but we had to leave in the middle of the speeches because men speaking in boring blue suits in a language she doesn't understand doesn't hold her attention like Mickey Mouse does. She rathered digging through the diaper bag or getting up and down off the seat. Several times she shouted out: "MEEOOOWWW and MOOO!!!" as she was thumbing through her board book.

I guess Paul and I were expecting a little more exciting display with photos and movies but it was mostly about content of the speeches. The kids next to us were also getting bored. Even the ones who came in excited for what they were about to hear/see. Excited about the space program. They ranged from 2 to about 9.

While it's impossible to cater to that age group in a speech, I couldn't help but feel, as a parent, that NASA kinda missed an opportunity to capture some of the kids in the crowd with a little more "oomph". I suppose Pre-baby Tara would have sat and listened carefully to all of the leaders tell us about the wonders of the acheivements of the ISS and the NASA team. Post-baby Tara was sort of relieved Anna was antsy enough to have to get up and walk out. Or maybe I am just getting more and more cynical that I feel like NASA sometimes doesn't do enough in the public relations area, when they really could do so much more. Last night was a great effort but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. Granted, they're not Disney, but they are NASA.

The rest of the party at Space Center Houston included a band and food. The band wasn't playing much while we were there. Where were the astronaut autographs and photo ops? Where was the anniversary cake? Balloons? Did I miss all of this and just give up too soon?

The up-side was that Anna danced a little bit when the band played, she got to see "spaceships" and "astronaut" mock-ups, and on the way out we got a goody bag that contained some pretty could space stuff. Inside the bag, there was a little foam astronaut.

"ASTRONAUT!" as she played with it all the way home.