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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Who:
Me, my husband, our children (then 2 and 4) and a pair of adult friends who came to visit us soon after we moved to London.

What and Where:
Madame Tussauds (since Jamie brought it up…).  London, England.

Why:
We were looking for a sightseeing expedition which would be just as entertaining for our childless guests as for our children.  Our guidebook said that Madame Tussauds was a fun trip for tourists of all ages. We threw that guidebook away when we got home.

The Low Point:
Our friends were in front of us in line, so they paid for their tickets before we had even heard the price.  By the time we realized that we were about to shell out the equivalent of $100 to admire some molded wax, we really had no choice but to grit our teeth and fork over the cash.

The Kids’ Take:
Huh???  The whole thing went completely over their heads.  They had never seen (or most of the time, even heard of) the famous people whose waxy likenesses lined the museum halls, so it was hard for them to figure out what the fuss was all about.  They were happy to pose cheerfully for photos with whichever figures we suggested, but they would probably have been equally content posing with the museum doorman or even a wino in the street.

The Bottom Line:
This was a rookie mistake.  Period.  Yes, I got a cute (hundred dollar) souvenir photo of my Little Einsteins with the big man himself.  But even Albert looks like he can’t believe how stupid we were to choose this outing, don’t you think?

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