On very rare occasions, I have the opportunity to do something special with just one of my children. The Minnesota Historical Society sponsored a “History Matters” Day at the State Capitol, so I took my five-year-old, who prefers all of our outings to be historical in nature. When we arrived at the capitol, we took a few minutes to look around at the historical society’s displays and information, and then gathered for a tour of the building. The tour was very interesting and informative, and our tour guide, Jayne, did a great job of saying things so we could hear them amidst the commotion of the capitol. She was also great with the kids in the group.

After the tour, we bought a sandwich at a food stand on the second floor and sat on a bench to eat our lunch. This gave us an opportunity to talk about demonstrators and protesters, as there were people in the hallways with signs supporting various legislative items.

We then went to the House gallery to watch the legislature in action. Although we didn’t stay for the entire discussion and vote, we saw part of history being made as a motion to override a veto was introduced and debated. (It ended up being overridden by the House and Senate, which is a rare occurrence in this state.)

All in all, we spent almost four hours at the State Capitol, and my youngster enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoyed the time as well. It was nice to see the building in its busy legislative state after having visited previously on quiet Saturdays when the legislature was not in session.

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