Science for Dummy Mommies #1

I did not like science at all when I was younger. I should say I did not like science CLASS. The way things were formalized in school was not appealing to me at all. I preferred the arts where things were flowing and creative. So I have been following a friend's blog and checking out great library books on science experiments for kids because Rowan totally digs science - formal process or not.

So here is the first in this series of Science for Dummy Mommies. And yes, we've done the volcano with the vinegar and baking soda explosions (and lots of other containers with vinegar and baking soda explosions) but I didn't have a camera at that time so I guess I didn't even qualify for the Dummy Mommy category then!



This experiment was on emulsification. We took a bowl of water and put some cooking oil into it. We wrote down our observations (because that's what Sid the Science Kid does, and I'm pretty sure I remember something about observations in science class) - I should say Rowan drew a picture of his observations. Then we added a few drops of dish soap and watched the oil quickly move out to the side of the bowl. Or as Rowan described, "the oil bubbles in the middle broke". So again he wrote down his observations. This time he was intent on spelling the observations accurately so he did. See pics. Then some chitter chatter about how and why the liquids separated, what would happen next, etc. etc. What I love about this whole process was Rowan was totally into it - like this was magic or something - and then it turned into printing and some sort of art project that he came up with. So it didn't start out as his idea but he was so into it and it turned into a bunch of other activities. Dummy Mommy. Hm!

Sunday at the Symphony!

We had a "Downtown Day" last weekend because we had tickets to the last performance of the season with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's series of Sundays and the Symphony for Kids. The show was Roald Dahl's version of Little Red Riding Hood where Little Red ends up taking care of the wolf on her own without the need for rescue by anyone else! Although still a little morbid in the typical style of old-time fairy tales (she marched around in her wolf-skin coat), changing the message of girls needing to be rescued to girls can figure it out on their own is a step in a better direction, in my opinion!

We had some fun downtown first before the show along with my 5 yr old niece, Kennedy, who preferred to ride the C-Train up and down as the highlight of the day! We also took Kennedy and Rowan to see one of my favorite downtown statues of the Famous Five http://www.heroines.ca/celebrate/statuepersons1.html - the women who were part of the Suffrage Movement and who helped women obtain the right to vote.

Here's a shot of us with Nellie McClung and Irene Parlby.

Once at the symphony the kids took part in the musical petting zoo where they held and played a violin! We ended with lunch on the patio and a trip to the park - a lovely way to spend a Spring day!

Packer Driver

Today we went to visit my brother, Jeff, at his job site. Jeff is a grader operator but operates a lot of the other machinery at times as well. He says it's like playing in a giant sand box like he did when he was a kid only larger scale! He took Rowan for a drive in a packer because his grader was being used. Rowan had to wear a safety vest which he got to take home. He was so excited - here is a little video from his adventure!



When we got home Rowan had to make several calls to tell people about driving a packer (he really did get to steer - Jeff just worked all the controls). He had that trying hard not to smile but I'm so excited I could die! kind of look on his face - it was awesome! Thanks, Uncle Jeff!

Boys and Girls

Ok...it's been months since I posted...I'll work on it!

Yesterday I hosted a Mother's Day lunch with a few of my friends and their children. When your child goes to preschool a lot of times they host a Mother's Day tea, so I thought as a homeschooler I would start a tradition. Anyway, I invited a few Moms who I love to be around and whose kids we love to play with. I also didn't want a huge amount of work for myself so it wasn't as big as it would have been if I'd invited ALL the women I love to hang out with, but it was just a lovely day of eating, visiting, and playing.

As for the title of this post....here's a bit of what evolved with the kiddies. My son's best, best, best friends E and I were there - both girls - the two friends he has adored above all since ever. And two of his good buds were there as well - who he has a ball playing with and who are very not girls. I have watched my son change over this past year from a super sensitive (sometimes ultra!) guy who cries and becomes upset a lot to being able to actually wrestle with other boys and laugh! I want to make sure I am not giving him the message "You should change to be this way or that way" because he is who he is and I want him to know I love him and accept him as he is. If he has a struggle or challenge I want to be there to help him with it but not necessarily fix it. The older he gets the more I want to take a step back and let him try and figure it out until he realizes he needs me, or I realize he doesn't have the tools or life experience to figure it out. So yesterday he was among his two favorite girl friends and his two favorite boy friends. A few times they were all tearing around being children - giggling, hollering, whispering, negotiating. At times the girls left the pack because of the yelling and chasing - could have been interpreted as the boys being insensitive and mean-spirited. Could have been interpreted as the girls tattle tailing. And each of us Moms would have given a different explanation based on how well we know each of the kids and how well we know our own. As time went on one of the boys began blocking kids from going into the basement, taking toys everyone wanted to play with, etc. If you watch him close enough, you see it is his way of drawing everyone back into connection with him as he was feeling left out by my son who he wants to claim as his best friend. He needed a little help (very little, in fact) to go in a different direction. The girls needed a little help, very little again, in understanding that some kids (in this case boys) are loud and wild and crazy.

In this day I think it is harder than every to be a parent - the gray just gets grayer. We have so many books, coaches, experts on this and that to tell us how to raise our kids. Right now I am reading Reclaiming Childhood by William Crain and Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell. I am looking to find ways of allowing my child to be who he is - a boy, sensitive, curious, insistent, persistent, and always, always in search of keeping his connection to others (right now that's me and his dad) even though it isn't always obvious that is what he is doing.