The One About Being White
Recently, a good friend of mine from the Midwest started giving serious thought to moving to Richmond with his family. We were chatting about different RVA neighborhoods when I thought it’d be easier to mark up a map on my…
Sam Davies lives in Northside Richmond with his wife and two school-age daughters. He enjoys writing about being a father in the DadZone. Follow him on Twitter @MrBeefy.
“Determined” Exhibit at VMHC is a Must-see for Families – Especially White Families
My family has the privilege of not having to think about race very much. Being white in a racist society affords us the power to ignore that our whiteness informs every interaction we have with the rest of our culture.…
Dome Feature Will Get You Fired Up for Pompeii Exhibit (It’s Also Great on Its Own!)
I learned something about myself at a screening of Volcanoes: The Fires of Creation, the latest film offering at the Dome at the Science Museum of Virginia. I learned that I could watch footage of volcanoes erupting, lava flows, and…
Discovery and New Perspective Await Families at “Pompeii: The Immortal City”
Who were the people of Pompeii? What was their community like before it was covered in a literal mountaintop of ash?” These are the questions that Pompeii: The Immortal City, the new exhibit at the Science Museum of Virginia, tries…
You Better Make Believe It
For a long period in my life, I forgot how to play pretend. As a child, I’d spend hours on the floor of my bedroom constructing narratives: superhero mashups between Green Lantern and Spider-Man, sequels to Nintendo games drawn on…
All the Thumbs Up for the The Forge – the Science Museum of Virginia’s New Maker Space
“No scissors, no tape, but I believe in you.” These were the only instructions given to my 8-year-old daughter and me one Sunday morning at The Forge, a dedicated maker space at the Science Museum of Virginia. Our task during…
Return to Sleep-Away Camp
When my older daughter was eight, my wife Kat and I prepared to take her to her first sleep-away camp. It was the summer after third grade and she was ready for an adventure. She’d been active in the local…
Interactive Fun of “Going Places” is a Hit with Families
“Wow, I really don't know how sails work,” I said to myself at the Land Yacht table at the Science Museum of Virginia’s new exhibit, Going Places. My two daughters, their friend, and I had each just grabbed a miniature…
“Body Worlds: Animal Inside Out” Elicits Best Kind of “Ewwww!” from Local 8-Year-Old
The foundation of modern biology is that life evolves over time through natural selection. Evidence confirming this scientific principle is on glorious display at Body Worlds: Animal Inside Out, an exhibit at the Science Museum of Virginia through September 3.…
To Beach or Not to Beach
My family is going to the beach this summer. I’m writing it here so it absolutely, definitely happens … maybe. Sharing it here increases the likelihood that we will go to the beach to at least greater than 50 percent. For…
