Gingerbread Rabbits, Music and English Judges

Book Club
This year I decided to start a book club during our school time. During book club we read a book aloud and I model reading skills to help them learn how to infer deeper meaning and become better readers. They are having fun and we do different activities based on the book. It is a little like the Five in a Row curriculum but with a heavier reading instruction focus.

We just finished the Gingerbread Rabbit and mapped out how it is similar to the Gingerbread Man. We also read other versions of the story including the Runaway Tortilla and the Gingerbread Baby. To have a bit of fun with it we made gingerbread rabbits and decorated them with skittles, sprinkles and chocolate chips. They had fun decorating but only RocketMan thought they were edible. BirdMan and GooseyGirl turned up their nose at these treats and decided the fox in the story could snarf up the gingerbread and they wouldn't mind.


New Favorite Website
The last time my friend, Juliet, was in town she noticed that I'm still listening to the same music I had in college. I really needed to increase my new music exposure and I've found a great way to do that! It is a free, wonderful site at pandora.com. You tell it your favorite group, which in my case is the Indigo Girls, and Pandora starts playing similar artists with no commercials and no fees! I love it! It is my own radio station based on the music style I enjoy.

Doesn't Translate
We are reading Dr. Doolittle at night and the kids have become consumed by the story. They listen open mouthed and beg to read "just one more chapter, Mommy!" Last night one of the characters is being tried in an English courtroom. The narrative describes the judges and the lawyers as tall, distinguished men in "grey curly wigs and black gowns".

GooseyGirl nearly lifted out of her seat, "What! They are wearing ball gowns and wigs?"

Suddenly England went all transvestite on her.

I assured her it was much more dignified than it sounded. Well, sort of. :)




Technorati tags: secular homeschool, homeschool, flat stanley, triplets, multiples, classical education
buzz words: homeschool, home school, classical education, home educator

Pride and Poopy Diapers

Sometimes I have to wonder how my kidlet's train of thought works.

Last night at the dinner table RocketMan looked at me and out of nowhere said, "When I get married you won't be there 'cause you're gonna be dead."

!!!!

Fortunately GooseyGirl spoke up for me, "No she won't!"

RocketMan decided that maybe he was a bit hasty after all and revised his statement, "Well, okay. You'll be in the 50s or 60s aisle."

BirdMan spoke up, "Yeah, but if you get married, you'll have to kiss a girl!"

"Well, I won't tell you about it," RocketMan shot back.

GooseyGirl rolled her eyes and said, "We will BE there, brother. We will see you kiss her."

I can tell this conversation isn't going in the direction RocketMan intended and he wasn't going to allow it to continue. The idea that he is going to kiss a girl? Thems fightin' words, padner.

He fought back with the only thing in his arsenal. "Oh, yeah? Well, someday you are going to have a BABY in your tummy. You are going to be a MOMMY!", said RocketMan.

At this point I decide to speak up. "You know, even though you'll be the daddy and you won't carry the baby in your tummy, you'll still take care of the baby, too."

RocketMan then made this weird chauvinistic pig snort/guffaw sound I've never heard from him before. He flippantly looked at me and said, "Daddys don't change the diapers."

Shawn was listening to all of this from the kitchen, while cleaning up some of the dinner dishes. "Son, I changed plenty of diapers. Including your poopy little bottom."

Well, that comment was enough to turn the tide of the conversation. We had finally hit upon the most interesting topic in the house. Not kissing, not marriage, not babies... poop.

RocketMan's eyes lit up, "Daddy, you changed my poppy diapers?"

I said, "Yes, he did. And sometimes it was so bad that we had to carry you to the sink to wash your bottom like a frying pan."

BirdMan nearly snorts his green beans out his nose over that statement. "You washed him in the sink?"

GooseyGirl squealed while giggling, "Did you put him in the dishwasher?"

I looked at them both and said, "Both of your bottoms got washed in the sink too. You were just as talented at making poopy diapers as your brother."

They all LOVED that comment and started belly laughing. I decided to indulge them a bit and tell them a story from their baby days.

"In fact, one time when you were toddlers, I took all three of you to the doctor by myself," I said, recalling how I thought I had everything under control at the time. This was when BirdMan was really sick. He was throwing up multiple times a day for over a month and we were regulars at the pediatrician's office.

"I was waiting for the doctor to come in and I was reading the three of you a story. Everything was fine and I was feeling proud that I could take care of three toddlers at once by myself. Then total chaos broke loose.

First, GooseGirl blew out her diaper. It was a supreme explosion, down her leg and up her back. She was a MESS! Then two second later, BirdMan threw up all over himself. As I turned to grab some paper towels, RocketMan fell off the table," I said.

My kidlets are now laughing so hard they are turning red. BirdMan barely gets a breath and squeaks out, "She had a poop bomb!"

Of course, after hearing the word "poop bomb" they have completely dissolved into gelatinous pools of writhing giggles on the floor. Every few seconds one of them repeats "poop bomb" which just sends them right back over the edge.

In actuality, the poop bomb episode was anything but funny at the time. My mother had offered to go with me to the doctor and I vainly told her it wasn't necessary. After all, I could take care of my own children, thank you very little. Hmmm... there really is something to that whole, pride-comes-before-a-fall thing.

There I was, by myself, in a small contaminated room with three wailing toddlers. I was on the verge of tears myself. Everything had been going so well just a moment ago and then... pandemonium. I crossed my fingers that the doctor wouldn't walk in right at that moment. He always made me feel like having triplets was too much for one person to handle. The last thing I wanted was to reinforce that idea. (Again, with the pride.)

I quickly accessed the situation, worked on RocketMan's boo-boo first, then cleaned up GooseyGirl and changed her clothes. BirdMan was last and I got his shirt changed just as the doctor walked in. Thank goodness he was running late!

"So, how are things going?", the doctor asked.

"Oh, you know, same ol' same ol'," I said, secretly thankful they don't have hidden cameras that would have caught me freaking out just moments ago.

The next time I took my kiddos to the doctor, I took my Momma too.

I'm proud but I ain't stupid!



Tags:
[homeschool], [triplets], [multiples],[triplets]

The Art of Crafty Kiddo Compromise

BirdMan has a new found obsession. He has always been into building and stacking things. His ability to see a drawing in 2 dimensions and then transfer it in his head to 3 dimensions is uncanny. He is a visual-spatial learner (like his mother).

I thought we had satiated this need to build through the buckets of building blocks, K'nex and legos. There is no telling how much money we have tied up into those top of the line toys. It turns out he is having more fun with something much more low tech.

Garbage.

Yep, garbage. I'm living with a seven year old dumpster diver.

Every time I turn around he's pulled something out of the trash. Today I found a cake mix box, a pudding box, 2 grocery sacks, my cereal box, the orange juice box and 5 plastic cups. They've all been cut down into smaller pieces and taped back together in various ways.




They've found new life as
1) ramp 2) tunnel 3) helicopter 4) truck
5) Mr. Kitty's armor.


It all started with a book he found at the library called Vroom, Vroom. Now I'm as much into creativity as the next mommy but rededicated trash pushes my limits.

Plus, I just found the new eggs I bought at Kroger piled in a Tupperware container so that he could use the egg carton to make a ship!

Not one to let any craft project pass her by, GooseyGirll got into the act. She snuck into the pantry, removed the Asian noodles from the noodle box, and quietly made her way to the craft supply drawer. I would have taken me much longer to discover the raid had she not bounced off the wall with pride and come running to show me her creation.

"Look, Mommy! I made a Norse boat!", she exclaimed.

I had to think for a minute. On the one had she should get into a bit of trouble for liberating the noodles from their well deserved home. But on the other hand, she made a Norse boat for goodness sake! How can you not be impressed by that?!?

(I was going to post a picture of it but she wanted to see if it would float and apparently Norse boats are exactly sea worthy when made out of a cardboard Asian noodle box.)

In the end, I've promised them that I'll set aside the clean garbage for them to root through so long as they leave my eggs and noodles alone. Good compromise, don't you think?

Question

BirdMan: "Momma, are you gonna have more babies?"

Mommy: "Um... no, honey."

BirdMan (patting me on the chest): "Then why do you still got your humps?"

BirdMan Hits a Milestone

Somehow, somewhere, sometime... the switch was flipped. I don't know how, but it has happened and there ain't no turnin' back.

BirdMan's got BO.

His body's sweat glands have kicked into gear and he can curl your nose.

For the last seven years he would sweat and perspire but without the icky aroma. Until now. You wouldn't think this milestone is worthy of a blog entry but surprisingly it's worth that AND a seven year old happy dance.

After all, grownups use deodorant. Big boys have stinky pits. BirdMan considers this as undeniable, scientific proof that he is, in fact, growing up.

"I'm not little anymore, Momma! My pits are smelly!", he exclaimed with a huge smile, practically giddy.

Now, RocketMan still hasn't reached this stinky mile marker of life and he is so disappointed. "Momma, am I smelly?", he'll ask.

"No, baby, you smell great", I'll say.

"But MOM-M-M-M-MA! My pits really DO stink. Here, smell them again", RocketMan will plead as he follows me around with his arm raised up hopefully.

During Shawn's recent grocery run, he decided the time had come to get BirdMan his own stick of deodorant, Ultra Dry Degree for Men. You'd have thought he'd brought home an X-box. Of course, he got deodorant for both boys. After all, you can't give a great toy like deodorant to only one child.

BIRDMAN AND ROCKETMAN (opening the Kroger bag): "Oh, Dad! You're the best! I can't believe it! I LOVE Man Degree! Oh, WOW! Thanks! I love you Dad!"

Birdman and RocketMan threw their arms around Shawn. They were simply THRILLED to have their own manly-man stink suppressor.

The next morning RocketMan and Birdman came down the stairs already fully dressed and ready for the day. They seemed to be standing a little taller, with a little strut in their step.

BIRDMAN TO ROCKETMAN: "Boy, this Man Degree sure does work."

ROCKETMAN: "Let me see."

BirdMan lifts his arm and RocketMan proceeds to put his entire nose into Birdman's pits while inhaling deeply.

ROCKETMAN: "Yeah, that sure does work good."

BIRDMAN (seeing Mommy standing there for the first time): "Hi, Mom. I sure am glad Dad got me this Man Degree. It really makes my pits smell good. You wanna smell too?"

MOMMY (contemplating whether mothers who have only girls ever experience a conversation like this): "Um, no honey. I'm good. Thanks, though."

BIRDMAN: "Sure, Mom. Hey, brother, wanna go play soccer and see if our Man Degree will still work?"

ROCKETMAN: "Yeah! Let's go!"

BirdMan and RocketMan bound out the front door through the August rainforest-esque heat to the soccer field, committed to testing the outer limits of their new deodorant toy.

I watch them play.

They'd run a few goals. Stop. Sniff each other's pits.

Run a few goals. Stop. Sniff. Repeat.


Tags: homeschool, parenting, humor, triplets

buzz words: homeschool, parenting, humor, triplets

Flat Stanley- lookin' for some hosts

We need your help! The kids just finished reading Flat Stanley.

The story is about a little boy who has a bulletin board fall on top of him. It makes him flat. And while this might be a downer for some people, Stanley sees it as an opportunity to travel to California cheaply through the mail so he can visit a friend.


The idea is that the kids read the book and create their own Flat Stanley whom they mail to friends all over the country and the world. These host families welcome Flat Stanley into their homes for a week or so and then send Flat Stanley back to the child with notes about what Flat Stanley did in their town.

The host family can send photos or emails of Flat Stanley visiting with them. Sometimes the host families make paper clothes for Stanley that reflect the area of the country they live in. Some host families include a post card of their area or other items of geographical interest. Sky's the limit!

Meanwhile, the child follows Flat Stanely's route from their home to his destination on a map. They get exposed to a fun geography lesson and get some writing practice in through the journaling they do.

Sooooooo.....
since we homeschool and don't have an official accredited school, we aren't allowed to participate in the National Flat Stanley Project. The kids still want to do this and I thought maybe some of you, my lovely readers, might like to be a host!


If you would be interested in hosting GooseyGirl, RocketMan or BirdMan's Flat Stanley, please send me an email to

kytriplets at(here's where I'm spelling out the addy so that I don't get a gazillion spams.) gmail dot(again- just replace with the symbol) com.


Depending on how many interested hosts I get I'll space out Stanley's visits. Before he gets sent, I'll send an email to confirm that it is a good time for him to visit. At that time you'll send me your address. We'd especially like to send Flat Stanely to a different country.

Here's the Flat Stanley's the kidlets made ready to send out to you!


Tags: homeschool, flat stanley, triplets, geography, map skills, journaling

Adrenaline Rush

GooseyGirl is terrified of roller coasters. The boys? They say, BRING IT ON!


Which means that either Shawn or I have to sit with GooseyGirl while the rest of the family screams their brains out on the hills and curves of adrenaline when we visit amusement parks. This past weekend we decided to take the kids to the local amusement park, Kentucky Kingdom. I was hopeful that GooseyGirl would be open to more grown up rides now that they've are seven.

I quickly discovered that was a pipe dream.

After hitting the wave pool we started for the coasters. Everyone was excited. Everyone except GooseyGirl. The the tears started flowing as we approached the entrance, so I ended up sitting with her while Shawn and the boys went on the Twisted Twins. Of course, that meant that one of the boys had to sit by themselves. It ended up being RocketMan but I think Shawn would have preferred if he had been the lucky odd man out, because a blonde 18 year old hottie was placed in the empty seat next to RocketMan.

After the ride RocketMan's face was beet red and he looked uncomfortable in his own skin with a sheepish grin on his face. I asked him what was wrong. "Oh, nothing", he replied. "Just this girl sat with me. She was scared so I held her hand to help her be brave."

At that point his grin broke out into a wide smile as he ducked his head and tried to change the subject. He's only seven! Shouldn't girls still be icky at this age?

It reminded me of our trip to Disney's MGM studio in Florida a couple years ago. Disney has this great program where your spouse can stand in line for a ride while you wait for them at the exit with the scardycats... er... reluctant children. After your spouse rides the ride, you switch places and then you can go without having to wait in a long line again. We did this on the Tower of Terror ride.

Have you ridden it? It is a huge dark elevator shaft and you sit facing the mirrored elevator doors as the ride pulls you up in the air. Then the elevator doors fly open, the Florida sun blasts your pupils as you hang there for just a tiny moment before you plunge straight down into the darkness again. This happens about three times. It is one of the scariest rides in any of the theme parks and I couldn't wait for my turn.

Shawn went first while I waited with the kidlets because there was no way we'd be letting any of the kids on this ride. We got to wait right beside the big video screens that take pictures of each person on the ride. The kids could see that every picture featured a panicked, freaked out adult screaming at the top of their lungs. Clearly, this was one horrific ride. The boys decided they wanted no part of it and they were flabbergasted that their mother was willing to ride it. I was surprised how much it impressed them. I suppose they think Dad's the only brave one in the house and for Mommy to willingly strap herself in and freefall made them raise their eye brows a bit.

I have to admit that I wallowed in this new admiration as we waited for Shawn to return so I could ride. I really played up how scary this ride was and had them look at the pictures of the riders as evidence of how frightening this ride truly was. I neglected to factor in how all that smack talk was effecting my own levels of trepidation. By the time it was my turn, I had psyched myself out so badly that my stomach was in knots but I couldn't NOT ride the ride. My kids were counting on me! Mommy was brave, right!?!

Um.. yeah...

After taking some meager deep breaths, I was seated next to an incredibly large, muscle bound father and his preteen son. The feminist inside me rolled her eyes as I admitted to myself that I was lucky I had a big strong man next to me to protect me.

The mirrored elevator doors shut and everyone was looking at everyone else a bit self consciously. We started up the elevator shaft and I'm preparing myself for the drop. I know exactly what will happen and I'm trying to be a grownup about it. After all, the kids are sitting in the room watching the pictures of their oh-so-brave mother riding the superdy dooperdy scary ride.

Suddenly the doors flung open and there we were perched high above the magical world of Disney for a split second.

Then we dropped.

I screamed like a little girl and flung myself on Mr. Muscle Daddy Man. We're talking a white knuckle leeching grab onto his huge biceps while screaming like a banshee and kicking my legs. The drop stops and the mirrored doors close. I release my grip and try to compose myself as Mr. Muscle Daddy Man starts belly laughing. As we continue our ascent to the top again, I can see Mr. Muscle Daddy Man's preteen son's reflection in the mirrored doors. He is looking over at me trying to decide who this crazy woman is that grabbed his dad, who is still laughing, by the way.

The doors fling open again and we hang there. I promise myself I'm not going to grab him again. I will scream like I mean it, but I will keep my hands to myself, darn it!

We drop. I grab him with both hands this time. He starts laughing even harder.

The doors close, I release him and we head to the top again. His son leans over and I can hear him whisper, "Dad, who is that?"

Mr. Muscle Daddy Man says, "I don't know" and continues to belly laugh.

His preteen is now studying me hard trying to decided if I pose a threat. I start pounding my feet on the floor of the elevator. I'm quite sure that if it weren't for the restraint harness I would bolt. Bolt where... I have no idea... just far away from the Tower of Terror, far away from Florida, maybe to somewhere with anti anxiety drugs. I think if I just keep stomping my feet I'll be able to keep from freaking out.

Doors open. Free fall.

This is where things get a little blurry but I'm pretty sure I tried to climb into his lap. However the restraints only allowed me to get my head buried into his neck as both arms were now snaked around his biceps. More screaming for me, more laughing for him, more concern and suspicion from the boy.

Thankfully that drop was the last and the ride was over. I released him and said, "Sorry about that", as I ducked away down the hall to my waiting family. The kids all gave me a hug. BirdMan points up at the gigantic video screen and asks, "Mommy, who was that man you were hugging?"

I look up and there I am. Me. Bigger than life with a death grip on Mr. Muscle Daddy Man.

Just then, he passed by my little family on his way to his wife with their baby stroller. He was still laughing as his wife looked back and forth from the big screen to me attempting to figure out exactly what the heck happened to her hubby on the ride.

Eager to change the subject and put some distance between myself and Mr. Muscle Daddy Man's wife, I said, "Hey, kids! Let's go find Mickey Mouse!"

My little crew of admirers let out a cheer and off we went into the hot Florida sun. Thankfully we didn't run into Mr. Muscle Daddy Man or his family the rest of the day.




Buzz Words: homeschool, roller coaster, kentucky kingdom, tower of terror, parenting, humor, triplets

Bippity Boppity Boo

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl magically becomes a princess. Boy marries girl. They live happily ever after.

The stuff of childhood dreams and simplistic romance defined.

Shawn took the family to Cinderella the Musical at our local ampitheater Wednesday night. But it wasn't what was on stage that held my attention, it was the audience. I'd never seen so many crowns and light blue rayon ball gowns on small children in my life. It looked like everyone had dressed up their little girls but us.


Waiting for the bathroom was like being in some sort of royal twilight zone, surrounded by fawning princesses on every side.

"Oh, your dress is so pretty."

"Thanks. I like your crown."

"Your shoes are so sparkly."

"Look! Her wand lights up!"

Now, GooseyGirl is into all this romance just as much as the next girl but she'd NEVER admit it. She gets queasy when characters fall in love and she swears that it is the kissing she can't stand. We had fun teasing her on the way to the play about the amount of kissing we suspected there might be on stage. She was moaning and groaning over that prospect while saying over and over, "I HATE kissing!"

The musical began and the ugly stepsisters took the stage. They were played perfectly by two men in drag. One was rail thin with a huge curly blonde wig. The other was rotund with black curly ribbon bedecked pony tails. They were wonderful comic foils but I was pretty sure my kidlets hadn't realized they were not women.

Soon the Fairy Godmother did the whole abracadabra thing and Cinderella was at the ball dressed to kill with her eye on her man. The romantic tension was building and I noticed GooseyGirl had started squirming uncomfortably in her chair. She had her legs balled up under her dress and her breathing was fast.

Then it happened.

The kiss.



Suddenly a loud group moan of, "Eewwwwwwww", came up from the all girls around us with GooseyGirl's voice in the lead. It seems she wasn't the only one who could do without all the lip action.

That's when BirdMan started singing his rhyme, "Cinderelly, Cinderelly, you're so smelly". Which was a huge hit with all the wanna be prince charmings around us.

Towards the end of the play the Ugly Stepsisters were trying on the glass slipper and grunting to get their little tootsies into the shoe. GooseyGirl leaned over to me and said, "Momma, they're so funny! They sound like men."

I whispered in her ear, "Honey, they ARE men."

She gasped out loud and clamped her hands over her mouth, then dissolved into giggles. "Oh, Momma, they must be so embarrassed!", she exclaimed.

Enriching their lives through art? Check!


buzz words: homeschool, homeschooling, home education, home educator, triplets, cinderella

Looking through BirdMan's eyes.

I love our homeschool math program, Math U See (they way they spell the curriculum makes me twitch involuntarily, however). The kids get really excited about Math and it is fun to see the light bulb go off over their heads. GooseyGirl told me her favorite part of math is doing word problems!?!

Yes, she is related to me... I have blood records to prove it.

Today, though, I had an argument with BirdMan about his word problems. He was adamant that his answer was correct. I double, triple, quadruple checked the teacher's manual. No doubt about it, his answer was wrong... or was it?

Here's the question. See what you think.

The three blind mice and the seven dwarves walked through the fresh snow. How many feet were making tracks? (Be careful- this is a three step problem.)

Okay. What is the answer?

The teacher's manual said the answer was 26.

BirdMan swore the answer was 20. He fought and fought with me over this.


Can you see the small detail that makes all the difference? The detail that would seem overly obvious to a child but difficult for an adult brain?



Here's a clue:
Count the feet "making tracks".



Don't you love that? I had to look at the problem through kiddo eyes before I could see how right BirdMan was! He got an A+ in math today and taught me something about my limited world view all at the same time.


Question of the day:
GooseyGirl: "Is Apollo (our bird) right-winged or left-winged?"










Tags: homeschool, home school, math curriculum, homeschool curriculum, home school curriculum, homeschooling, home education, home educators, birds, parrots, pet supplies.

Meet Flopper

RocketMan had a big weekend.

Not just big... HUGE.

GINORMOUS!!

A COLOSSAL weekend for RocketMan.

In addition to eating candy which made his tongue blue- and we all know how cool THAT is.

He caught a 22" catfish!

And he caught it with his 2' pee-wee Snoopy pole!

This was one seriously large fish. Look down at your leg. Look from your knee to your foot. That is how long and how fat this pregnant catfish was! He caught it at the little private pond down the street and couldn't be prouder.





Quote of the weekend:
GooseyGirl (in an 80's Valley Girl accent): "Momma, the Romans were UN-BE-LIEVABLE! I mean they even made concrete! Amazing!"

Update on FrankenDad

Update on Shawn's dog bite recovery:
The plastic surgeon's office called and said he was too "tired" to keep his appointment with Shawn today.

Yes, we're getting a new plastic surgeon.

Preferably one that is wide awake. Appointment is Monday morning because we all know plastic surgeons don't do weekends. Hmmm.... maybe if we just go hang out at the golf course we could find one. "Help! Help! Is there a plastics guy in the clubhouse?"

One of my friends told me her daughter got bit and then developed internal parasites. We'll be watching Shawn closely for any foaming of the mouth.

FrankenDad

Shawn got bit by a 70 pound dog last night. He had stopped by his cousin's house and went up to the fence when the dog leaped up and bit his face. He has three stitches in his lip and two in his nose. There is also a patch on his nose they couldn't stitch up because the dog took the skin completely off. He's feeling okay but the stitches were painful and the tetanus shot wasn't fun either. We do know the dog is up to date on his shots so Shawn won't need anything other than anti-biotics.

We are headed to a plastic surgeon this afternoon to see what needs to be done.

The kids think dad's stitches are just fascinating and are following him around the house gulping down every morsel of the attack's details that Shawn can spare. What color was the dog? How big were his teeth? Were you scared? What was the dog's name? Did you ride in an ambulance? Did they give you a shot? How big was the needle?

I think Shawn is going to need a valium just to deal with the kidlet's questions!

Last night I made some changes to both this site and the Fisherville Academy site. Take a look around. You can now subscribe to this Fisherville Academy blog via e-mail. Scroll down and sign up below! The wit and humor will resume once we finish putting the duct tape on Shawn's face to hold all the bits together. (That is what the best plastic surgeon's use, right? I wonder if the surgeon would throw in a tummy tuck for me? Like one of those buy one get one free deals. Every girl's gotta have a dream, 'ya know.)

Seriously, though, Shawn's doing pretty good and we'll know more after the surgeon's appointment this afternoon. In the mean time he's on the couch watching Lost in Space through a pain killer haze which, I believe, is exactly the way the director meant for it to be watched.

Welcome to Second Grade!

Technically yesterday was our first day but to celebrate we ditched school and went swimming instead. BirdMan got his cast off and we had to go splash around in water to celebrate, right? Ahhhhh.... what fun.

Today was our first real school day and we started the Fisherville Academy Book Club. Basically we are reading a chapter book out loud together, taking turns with each chapter. Then we talk about the characters and other aspects of the book and do an activity. Today's activity comprised of making a map of our classroom.

One of the characters in the book is a little boy who enjoys teasing girls and tying to gross them out. This is a foreign concept to my kids because GooseyGirl is just as into examining the latest road kill as the boys are. You can't gross the girl out. She can hook her own worm onto the pole when we go fishing, for goodness sake!

The boy in the story decided to stick his pencil up his nose and gently swing it back and forth while staring at the girl in the frilly pink dress sitting next to him. This character also refers to himself as "The Beast" and is mortified that he can't read but doesn't want anyone to know that little secret about his abilities.

I asked my little book club about the motivations of this character.

"Why do you think Richard puts a pencil in his nose?", I asked and sat back to wait for the revelations about the main character's lack of self esteem to come pouring from their little mouths.

"Oh, I know!", says RocketMan with all the self confidence in the world, "To erase his memory."

*snort*