Today's Tidbits and Third Grade Projects

First: let me just say that the Who are by far one of the best bands I've ever heard. And thanks to the CSI folks, because, since all three of your series are constantly on CBS, I get to hear them every week! Baba O'Reilly rocks!

Second: I'm so fried today it isn't funny. I need to clean the house, I need to organize all the awful paper that seems to multiply like rabbits everywhere, and I can't get out of my own way. I just need one day with no interruptions, which at my best guess, as DS#3 just turned 1, should be in 2018. But the way the economy is going, one of the other boys may have moved home at that point.

Three: dear Teachers, while I understand that I as the parent need to allow my child to do his own work, could you please take the limitations of a grade school student into account, particularly one on an IEP due to LD, when assigning your monthly projects? First, having to make a "3-D clay" example of the chosen endangered animal, in case you weren't aware, requires clay. But there is no more clay. Well, there is, but it's only in white, blue, red, and yellow at my local crafts stores. He's doing the panda. I need white and black. So, for more normal animal-like colors, a mother finds herself in the Crayola Model Magic aisle. Where the appropriate colors can be located. For $3.99 a packet. For crying out loud, didn't our town just pass an override for the schools? So, for just over $8.00, because we need the two colors, we have our supplies in hand. Then, because this stuff is so friggin' expensive, I make DS practice with the few unhardened Playdohs I have stashed downstairs. Then, because this stuff is so friggin' expensive and the first head and snout end up all mixed together, I help with the rolling and the sticking together of body parts. Once the animal is molded, we have to make the animal's "environment". I was planning, with a panda, to just buy some bamboo, stick the panda in it, and call it a day. No such luck. None of our local florists have bamboo of any type on hand. So we resort to painting and papering the shoebox. Then the accompanying paper, with cover drawing, is completed. It looks great, but what did this teach my student, besides the fact that his mom can pass third grade. Again. I think I'm saving this one. By the time DS#3 gets to that grade, all the current teachers will be retired. And I'll be older and more tired. Maybe if we just dust it off.

Things I did accomplish today: registering DS#2 for his spring sport, putting the deposit down on our summer vacation spot, finishing said project, and actually feeding the kids a nutritious dinner.