When Is A Door Not A Door?

The wee ones have spent the last four weeks attending summer school, and they love it.  They take fun classes, and the district does a great job of ensuring that everyone enjoys their summer - even if it isn't a class the child wanted to take.  Witness Little Miss who was incensed by the fact that she had to take a reading class instead of the art class she'd hoped to take and now doesn't want it to end.

One way they do this is with the fun and games they use to teach, as well as the frequent and fun recesses (held indoors that past few days due to the heat).  And of course, there is Popsicle Friday. Every Friday, the children are given a popsicle for snack instead of the healthy snack their parents send them otherwise (fruit, vegetable, or cheese only - I love it).

The best part for the wee ones isn't actually the popsicle.  It's the riddle on the popsicle stick they uncover after eating the popsicle.  They always race to tell me their jokes as I pick them up.

Mommy!  Mommy! cried Little Miss last week.  What do chickens collect at the beach?


I thought for a moment and was very proud of myself when I came up with the correct answer.  Eggshells? I guessed.  She only pouted a moment that I'd gotten it right before her face was wreathed in smiles again and she giggled along with me at the joke.

Mister Man was up next.  When is a door not a door, Mommy?


Ummmm, when it's a doorknob? I ventured.  I was very wrong.  I couldn't come up with the answer.

When it's ajar! he shouted triumphantly.  Ohhhh yeah.  I do know that joke.  He and I had a hearty laugh, but Little Miss just stood there staring at us.

That's not a funny one, Mommy.  Why are you even laughing? she demanded.

Because it is funny, Sweetie.  When the door is ajar.  That's a good joke!  Her perplexed look didn't ease.  Do you get it?


She shook her head, and I asked Mister Man to demonstrate how a door could be ajar.  He did, and she merely shook her head sadly at him.  I know that, Mommy.  But what's a jar?


I blinked at her for a minute.  A jar?  You don't know what a jar is? I asked, somewhat confused.

She shook her head and looked almost ready to cry.  Oh.  Huh.  Mister Man broke in before I could explain.  Little Miss, he announced somewhat bossily, you do know what a jar is.  A jar is what you use to capture fireflies.

Summer... A Time For Relaxation?

I love summer. The long, lazy days of summer where we can put together playdates and hang out at the pool and just do whatever we want. The unofficial start of summer arrived this week with Memorial Day, and next week is the end of the school year for the wee ones.

Orrrrr not. The wee ones have so much they want to do, and I want to be sure we have time for those spontaneous trips out to Galena to go blueberry picking (fun!) or to hang out at the pool with our friends or whatever we decide we want to do. It ends up being a balancing act, and I don't think the wee ones get it.

I finally decided to show the wee ones visually what they were committing to, so I wrote out a calendar on our whiteboard in the homework room. When I was done, it even blew me away.

There are some things that aren't negotiable. The wee ones are signed up for summer school and really want to do it - and I want them to do it. Mister Man has to do his OT once a week. Little Miss "has" to do Safety Town and Twilight Camp. Mister Man is committed to Tae Kwon Do (and just got his last stripe for his green belt so now we're awaiting testing for him to promote to his red belt, whoo hoo!). Little Miss loves gymnastics. And both really, really want to take swim lessons to get better.

Uh-huh.

When they saw this, they both freaked out. Theater camp was immediately canceled, freeing up three hours five days a week for three weeks - plus the performance. Mister Man I think may give up his chess camp, although that's still up in the air. And they stopped asking to add more activities, fortunately.

Since I did that, Little Miss got asked to join the "preteam" for gymnastics, which is a twice a week for an hour an a half at a time commitment - that she wants to do. And we're still trying to juggle to find a time with the OT that works for both her and us, as her original option was immediately preceding TKD, and I don't see that going well.

I know this is my fault, but holy cow, how does this happen? I still haven't signed up for swim lessons for them and those may be full now. And Little Miss's school strongly requests that they complete a math workbook and read a book every day of summer vacation.

We're continuing to pare away at the activities, but ... I suppose so long as everyone is happy, it's all good, right? It just amazes me how quickly everything adds up! I need some more days like August 5, 12, and 17 where we have nothing scheduled. After all, I still don't have anything about blueberry picking on there!

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You Chose Owl What?

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Yesterday was the last day of summer school for the wee ones. While I am happy to not be waking up quite so early in the morning to get them out the door to the 8am classes, I know they enjoyed them and are looking forward to what they'll take next year.

Little Miss's kindergarten prep class is complete (although I had a horrible time this morning convincing her she wasn't on her way to kindergarten today), and Mister Man has no more cooking class (I may yet have to post on that one) or science class. Prior to the end of the science class, however, there was a science fair.

Mister Man was excited to have me come to visit his classroom and see the science fair and only told me that it started at 11am three to four times each day the week leading up to it.

When I asked for more information about it, he explained that he'd chosen the owl pellet project. He was to open the owl pellets and build a vole skeleton.

I'll admit right now that I did not have the greatest science education growing up. When I got to college and had my first chemistry class, I had no idea what a pipette was. I only passed that class thanks to a very bright friend of mine who graciously agreed to my lab partner.

Needless to say, I chalked up his explanation to being six and not really getting things and just smiled and nodding. I was thinking - don't ask me why - that his chosen project was to open up some plastic owl-shaped container with a plastic skeleton puzzle in maybe twenty pieces. And note the word chosen - yes, he chose this project.

Ohhhh how my eyes were opened. Allow Mister Man to explain his science project.

You see, owls eat their prey - voles, mice, etc. They digest everything they can, which leaves fur and skeletons. These are compacted together in the owl's stomach in to - wait for it - pellets, which they then vomit up.

Uhhhh. Yep. My son's science fair project is owl vomit.

So apparently these little gems are all over forest floors, if you know where to look. Oddly, I've never seen them before. The science supply stores, however, sell them - lucky us.

You open up a pellet, which is fortunately wrapped in lovely tin foil, whether to protect the owl pellet or people, I'm not actually sure. You then start digging through the compacted fur - which is rather dust-like - to find the bones encased within.

There's also a nifty little digging stick tool to help you get the pellet started and ensure you aren't missing any pieces of the skeleton.

Once you have the bones removed from the bits of fur, you simply arrange them on the handily provided piece of paper that shows where the bones are in the various animals and "build" your skeleton from there.

Interestingly, the skull and jawbones appear to have been the easiest to find, and they were also Mister Man's favorite. When he asked to bring these home, I unfortunately had to decline.

No, my child couldn't have the project on planets and space. He wasn't interested in the density of various liquids. He didn't want to build circuits or create pressure with Alka-Seltzer to pop open small containers. No, he chose to build skeletons from owl vomit.

Call me a wimp, but there are some things about science I was just fine not knowing. And yes, he has announced that he wants to take this class again next year.