Friday Follies

FAMILY AFFAIR: It was music morning, and during parent participation time, we were given a stack of cards and a mat, and instructed to divide the instruments into their families (woodwinds, brass, percussion and string). CJ and Annabelle did so with no trouble.

DON'T STOP: After music, I decided it was time for MPA to get its house in order, so to speak. Honestly, this place was still trashed from the aftermath of CJ's bday.

I told the kids we were going to clean up our act, and that the best way to go about something like this is to have a strategy. I asked, "Who knows what 'strategy' means?" and they both raised their hands, which I found amusing. ;)

We decided to clean from left to right, along the east wall first, then wrapping to the south, then the west. And that's just what we did. Mostly. When their attention spans drifted, I'd exhort, "Don't stop cleaning!" which morphed into Annabelle singing "Don't Stop Believing" which devolved into me finding that song on YouTube (the fantastic version from the cast of Glee) and a dance party broke out. Yeah, well, so much for "Don't Stop Cleaning." :\



CLUELESS IN SEATTLE: Today was our second session of the series of science classes we've signed up for. This time we had to drive down to Rainier Valley (quite near where we go to yoga) for class. We arrived about 15 minutes early. Conveniently, there is a park across the street from the building where we were meeting, so the kids got to play around for a bit.

At one point I heard Annabelle yell, "I'm climbing DNA!" I walked around to the source of her voice and found CJ and her climbing a twisted ladder that resembled life's building blocks.

Come 12:15 it was time to head inside for class. The discussion about solids, liquids and gases from last week resumed, and this time teacher Kate held up a half gallon of whole milk and asked the kids if they thought it was a liquid, solid or a gas. The group all hopped on the 'liquid' bandwagon.

Kate then held up a beaker of water, added a couple of drops of food coloring and asked the class what they saw. "Instant color change!" declared Annabelle. Her comment drew praise from Kate for its accuracy and the fact that she noted it was an immediate change.

At that, Annabelle added, "It's like adding food coloring to fondant!"

A puzzled Kate questioned, "Like what?"

"Like fondant," Annabelle enunciated.

Scientist Kate looked puzzled and admitted, "I don't know what 'fondant' is."

"It's fancy frosting," I muttered from the sidelines, prompting several parents present to chuckle.

Kate then asked the class what they thought would happen if food coloring was added to milk, which appears to be very liquid. After the kids each dropped a couple of drops of color into the milk, they came to learn it isn't entirely liquid after all.

They learned that liquid food coloring doesn't flow through milk easily, but that it will try to find a way when faced with soap. The kids all dipped toothpicks in dishwashing soap and plunged them into the milk/food coloring colloid.

Annabelle shared a table with a boy about her age and another kid, about 12. The trio was methodical and meticulous during the experiment and it showed. Their milk-filled pan was a thing of beauty after they introduced the soap coated toothpicks. Everyone in the room came over to 'ooh' and 'aah' over it.

CJ's experience in class was not quite as, shall we say, successful. It started well enough- he found his name tag and his 'smock' and sat in a seat. And then, it was pretty much straight downhill. He totally checked out (mentally). He was present in body, but his mind was so far, far away for the whole hour following. He wasn't disruptive, I'll give him that, but he didn't follow a single cue or direction. I found it perplexing. And then annoying. And then it moved toward infuriating. Keep in mind, all the while, I went over to him and gave him verbal 'prompts' or encouragement or threats. ;) But he just never engaged, and they were doing cool stuff and there was no reason he shouldn't have been able to at least feign mild interest. Instead, he was completely indifferent.

Needless to say, after class we went straight home and during the 40 minute drive we talked about his actions or lack thereof. It was helpful to have the ideas and vocabulary from "You Are a Social Detective" to work with. CJ realized the error of his ways, and felt really horrible and promised to do better next time, and I'm sure he will. That said, Christian and I reminded him that there are many instances in life where there is no 'next time.' You only get one chance to make a first impression, and often there just are no 'do overs,' period. In other words, no excuses, dude. You gotta get with the program.

BOWSER GOES DOWN!: This afternoon we had a play date with favorite preschool friend Connor. He, like CJ and Annabelle, appreciates the fine things in life, like old school Nintendo/Mario games, and the three of them had a date to make the Bowser pinata go down.

We'd arranged to meet at Ella Bailey Park, atop Magnolia. When we got there I scouted a quiet corner of the park and a tree to hang Bowser from, away from the crowd. Yeah, well that lasted all of 12 seconds. I was stringing Bowser up when a guy pushing a stroller interjected himself into the equation. He said, "You really need to hang that from the playground, where it will swing freely," and then he started peppering me with questions about the pinata, taking photos of it with his phone and telling me how he'd never seen anything like it, how I should have a Web site with them and ship them all over blah blah blah. Aargh. I was just hoping for a very low key Bowser bashing. Sigh. (I guess we should have done it in our carport!)

So, we moved him over to the playground. Of course, once there, I welcomed all the kiddos present to have a whack, because it would have been sooooooo ruuude (IMHO) to hang a pinata in the middle of a public playground and then declare it off limits to anyone.

Thankfully, Bowser was over-engineered (as is my pinata norm), and he withstood a couple hundred hits. In fact, he was so darn strong, he was wearing the kids out. I proposed playing soccer with him. :) Eventually, chinks in his armor developed and he spilled his guts. It was fun for CJ, Annabelle and Connor - and what a bonus for the kids who just happened to be hanging round the park this afternoon.

SPACE RACE LATEST: Via Facebook and email today, the Kennedy Center folks let me know that tickets for the May 14 launch will go on sale on Monday morning at 6 a.m. Left Coast time. The notice came with this caveat: "NASA Causeway tickets may be available for less than one minute." Um, yikes.

I totally believe it too, after reading the hundreds of messages on Facebook from people from around the globe declaring their intent to come for the launch. I'm so glad we decided to buy the tickets through Gator Tours now - I can only imagine how hammered they'll be once that one minute sellout happens come Monday.