Worms and Ladybugs

Nick often benefits from many of the lessons I'm preparing for my elementary school students. I think this year my tax write-offs for things I bought for students will be especially peculiar. For two weeks I had 1,500 ladybugs and nearly 100 worms in my refrigerator. I sometimes think I have the weirdest (and the coolest) job in the world.

Right now, I'm teaching a summer school program with an ecological focus, and my students and I even put in a school garden. It's been hard work and a lot of research. Nick loves previewing the video clips and shopping for supplies with me. Oh, and playing with the ladybugs. That, too.

Since I'm creating the lessons and projects from scratch, I try to teach Nick some of what I'm working on with my K-5 students. My philosophy of teaching relies on realia, which just means using real stuff to teach whenever possible. This works just as well for teaching Nick. Last week I let him release a bucket of worms and several hundred ladybugs into our vegetable garden. It was really cool to see how excited he got at those little critters.

The ladybugs were indeed a bit freaky when they crawled around en masse, but Nick loved touching them and learning about their bodies.

I even taught him the insect song we sing at school.

"Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen,
Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen,
six legs, two antennae, compound eyes,
don't forget the ones with wings, ones with wings!

We were really surprised to find many ladybugs still hanging out on the plants this weekend, especially on my tomato plants. I had thought many of them would fly away, but my tomatoes must have had lots of aphids.

This week, I'm going to be bringing home some of the books I read with my students about gardens and wildlife.

Poor Henry. He'll have to wait until he's a little older to join us on our science adventures. I'm too afraid he'd have eaten the worms and ladybugs. Actually, I'm pretty sure Henry would have done just that.

Exhaustion and a Weekly Date

I have been pretty exhausted lately. In this picture, it looks like Greg is pretty beat, too. He was supervising Nick while he perused the travel books. Before having a child, I didn't often lay on the floor because I was tired. Now, I do it all the time. I actually fell asleep sitting up on the couch for about 15 minutes this afternoon. I think something about the cold weather and the dark skies makes me just want to hibernate and eat chocolate chip cookies.

It's funny how when you like a job, it can completely sap all of your energy. I feel like I've done some of my best lessons lately. I prepare PowerPoints, I use cooperative structures, I plan alternative assessments. But I've been doing way more work at home than I'd like. Thus the involvement of caffeine, which is one of my dearest friends. This Tuesday and Thursday, I had to work very late and then pick up Nick from my mom and stepdad's house. The only way I made it through both days was with a 4 p.m. latte. My latte order is pretty crazy, too. Only Starbucks will do, and it is a "tall, sugar-free caramel skim latte, extra hot, with 5 Splendas, an extra pump of the sugar free syrup, and in a grande cup with whipped cream up to the top." Yup, I'm nuts. Today, however, I didn't have my latte and I've been ready to crash since 5:30. I'm hoping once the elliptical trainer we ordered gets here, I'll be able to start working out every night, and maybe that'll give me some energy. Natural energy, perhaps, rather than my $3.75 cup of joy and sanity.

Now Nicholas has absolutely no shortage of energy. Today, I put him on the floor for literally 20 seconds while I laid my purse and keys on the counter, and he had crawled around the corner and up three stairs before I got to him. It's like every fiber of his being is focused on movement, whether it's crawling or cruising.

Above you can see Nick on his new toy. It's not actually new; I bought it last summer for $2 at a garage sale. Yes, I cleaned it with a 10:1 bleach solution and let it air dry before letting my child play with it. This is definitely a little boy. He loves to play with toy cars, motorcycles, and the remote control. He also is mesmerized by bright colors on the TV screen, although we try to keep him from watching too much of that. But he still picks up books to flip through over other toys, and he will sit and listen to between 2 and 5 books every night, depending on his mood.

This afternoon Nick and I had our weekly date. Nearly every Friday, we go to Costco to buy greek yogurt, milk, fruit, wine, and frozen pizza. I do buy other things, but those are the necessary staples of life. You'd be surprised how many yogurts (24) and gallons of milk (3) we go through in a week. Nicholas loves the Costco because of the samples. That, and he also loves flirting with the ladies. Today we sampled garlic bread, smoothies, turkey sausage, mango juice (delicious), and turkey breast. I almost bought him some new board books today, but I held off because his birthday is next week. He also has a bad habit. You see, every week when the cashier hands me the receipt, I hold it in my hand because they check receipts at the door. Nick always grabs it out of my hand and stuffs it in his mouth. Costco receipts must be tastier than most; he grins hugely as he stuffs the long receipt in and chews.