Bits and Pieces

(I can’t write a title like that without thinking of Mike Myers on SNL playing Simon in the bathtub, asking us if we’re looking at his bits and pieces, calling us cheeky monkeys and bum lookers…)

The bits and pieces I’m referring to, however, are just a general rounding up of what’s going on around here.  Nothing enough to make an entire post, but in putting them all together, maybe it will be enough.

Although, speaking of bits and pieces…when you’re 6 years old and just starting to figure out the world, sometimes you say things wrong.  Jack, who’s always interested in cars and their names, has a friend whose mom drives a Volvo.  Only Jack doesn’t pronounce it Volvo.  And although I’ve gently tried to prod him into pronouncing it VolvO without really explaining why it is not pronounced his way, he has gotten stubborn on the subject, and steadfastly and loudly points out all the Volvos we see while driving or walking through parking lots. 

“Yes, honey, that is a very nice VolvO,” I answer cringingly.

Hmm, while we’re on the subject of Jack and bits and pieces…we went to Red Robin over the weekend where he got a lovely green balloon.  I tied a nice handle in the bottom of it so that he wouldn’t lose it on the way to the car.  When we got home, I opened the van door for him, and which body part do you think he had that handle hooked onto?  Yessir, that one.  He wasn’t being weird.  He told me he just got tired of holding it and didn’t want the wind to blow it out the window so that’s where he hooked it.  You know… you couldn’t do that with a volvo.  It’s good to be a boy.

So what else is going on that isn’t literally bits and pieces related?

I finished the mulch!  It took me about 8 hours (spread through the weekend—ha! pun!) and I was pretty grumpy and miserable the whole time, but it’s finished now and it looks bee-yu-tee-ful.  Wouldn’t you think all that work would make the scale budge downward just a tiny bit?  But NO, it did NOT, which is completely unfair.

Yesterday was field day at our elementary school.  Our field day is called Jelly Bean Day, and isn’t as competitive as the field days of my youth, as the kids are all visiting parent-run stations and completing physical activities (most fun, some not as much), but at the end of the day it is time for TUG O’ WAR!  The fifth grade classes all compete with each other and then compete against the teachers.  Maddie, who is a fifth grader, was so excited to finally be in the tug o’war this year.  Her class lost every single match.  But my gosh, look how much fun they had!

The teachers had fun too.

I really worry that fun days like this will soon be a thing of the past.  Schools are so worried about their PSSA scores that classroom parties, craft times, and field days are being phased out to concentrate on getting these kids to pass those darn tests.  But seriously, don’t get me started…

Ben’s class did a really cool research activity.  Each student chose an animal to research, then they had to write up the information on the computer, arrange it all on a presentation board, and tell visitors to their “zoo” all about their animal.  Here is Ben telling us about the coyote:

I love both the research component and the fact that these kids had to present their animals orally to visitors over and over, giving them a chance to practice public speaking.  That is something that is not going to show up on a test, but will prove to be a valuable experience for each of them!  Ben did a great job, as did all of the other zookeepers we visited that day.  We learned a lot too.

Tomorrow is Be Extra Nice to Maddie Day.  If you see her, be extra nice! 

Well, look at that, I think I filled up an entire post with bits and pieces and only a tiny bit of naughtiness. Have a great day!