Broken

But, Mooooom, it's barely broken!

Really??? This means it is okay to use your sister's necklace as a slingshot? The fact that it is barely broken? What if it were completely broken? Then the ADHD brain would think, "Oops. I broke it. Now what?" While it is in the barely-broken stage, all systems are go and we can continue to slingshot the necklace across the room. Gotta love the mind of a 9 year old boy.

To Underline or Not To Underline

I had SUCH a conversation with JT in the car the other day. He was doing a writing practice sheet where he was asked to write about a play he has seen. Why were we doing school in the car you might ask? Well, I had a doctor's appointment, so I loaded up the kids and their schoolwork and took them to Hubby's office to hang out and get their work done. When I retrieved the kiddos 2-1/2 hours later, they spilled the beans that Daddy let them play their DS's the entire time. What a great Daddy. But I digress. My conversation went something like this:


Me: You must underline the name of the play.

Jacob: Why would I do that?

Me: So that people will know it's a play.

Jacob: Mo-o-om, they have to already know that. I'm writing about a play. It says so in the directions.

Me: But when you write the name of the play you must underline it.

Jacob: What's underline mean?

Me: (gritted teeth) Draw a line under it.

Jacob: But there's already a line under it. (He's writing on lined paper.)

Me: (Do I feel those gritted teeth starting to crack?) Add another line so that there are two lines.

Jacob: Do I write it on top of the first line or below it? Either way it will mess up the words I've written.

Me: (Where is that screeching sound coming from?) Just draw it on the line that's already there.

Jacob: But then it will just look like one line again.

Me: Who's on first?

Bags Are Packed

MO, who is on the cusp of turning seven, loves to pack. She can pack herself for a trip like a pro. She also packs every single purse, backpack, shoebox, plastic bag, etc, that she can find. She'll pack any random items that she deems packable into pretty much any container. This makes finding, for example, her tights for church on Sunday morning somewhat difficult. You never know where they've been packed.

I was searching for something - I forget what - and came across a toy purse in which she'd packed a toy cell phone, a pair of panties and a toothbrush.

Let that sink in for a moment. Um, yeah, aren't these the items she's supposed to carry around in her purse during college? Isn't second grade a little early? I think so. I know it was just a random assortment of items in her little world, but this particular grouping freaked me out!

Vocabulary

JT was doing vocabulary today and asked me what the word flinched means. Stick with me on this next part, I thought I'd demonstrate the word, so, without saying anything, I reached out to flick my fingers towards his face and misjudged the distance. I flicked the poor kid in the face. After gushes of I’m sorry’s and are you all right?’s, I cracked up. I couldn't help it. He laughed a little, too. Actions speak louder than words and my actions distinctly said: You ask a question around here, Kid, and you get smacked in the head.

Homeschool Mom of the Year, right here. Again and again, I keep racking up the points! Next time I'll just send him to the dictionary.

Just call me Ms. No Depth Perception.

Broken-Hearted

JT could not find his beloved stuffed lion, Poquito (full name Poquito Tito for those of you who are Skippyjon Jones fans), last night before bed. I was exhausted and told him to just go to bed and that we'd search for Poquito in the morning. JT wailed, "But how can I sleep when my heart is breaking?" Poor, little buddy. Of course one cannot sleep when one's heart is breaking. This is why I was crawling around on all fours in a sleepy fog last night calling out to a stuffed animal.

Poquito didn't answer, in case you were wondering. But he was found, safe and sound, so JT's world could continue to turn. And I could succumb to the fog and get some sleep.

Pressure

JT, who is nine and full of questions, recently asked me how an airplane stays in the air. Hm...good question. As the homeschool teacher, I felt compelled to actually answer this question rather than pushing it off on my dear husband, the airplane fanatic. So I decided to do an entire unit on air. (Yawn) But it's what the kid is interested in learning, so off we go. I look up air pressure online (where else?) and discover Bernoulli's Principle. Yes, discovered as in never heard of it before, since I've never questioned WHY the airplanes stay in the air. I'm just happy that they do. This is what I learned:


"As the fluid passes over the central part of the tube more energy is used up as the molecules accelerate. This leaves less energy to exert pressure, and the pressure thus decreases. Concerning flight, Bernoulli's Principle has to do with the shape of an airplane's wing. The bottom is flat, while the top is curved. Air travels across the top and bottom in the same time, so air travels slower on the bottom (creating more pressure) and faster on top (creating less pressure). This keeps the plane in the air."



Huh? What? I had to read that approximately 3.5 trillion times to determine that I don't know what it means. And this was the simplest explanation I could find. Several failed experiments later, my head huuurrrtttss!! (she whines LOUDLY). I don't care how the $%#@ airplane stays in the air...just that it does. Is science class almost over? Oh well, I'm off to go prove that air can do work by making some tea and maybe we'll blow up a balloon or two to prove that it takes up space. I'm taking the kids to the museum that does a class on air pressure...so the pressure is off me. Ha! Ha! (Is that a twinge of hysteria in my voice?) Maybe I should open a bottle of wine instead of drinking tea. Think I could tweak that into a lesson on air pressure? Eh, probably not the best idea.

Blogging? Me?

So I guess I'm blogging now. Will I stick with this or flit away to something with a bit more sparkle in a few weeks? Hard to say...guess we'll find out.