Boing! Science and kids

Ben bends a chicken bone gone boing-y, three days after soaking it in vinegar...

Jon jumps for joy over his 'levitating' balloons...

Kait grabs a balloon, too. "Play ball" she knows to string together and say, and "balloon" is "bawooooo"!

So began the fun with the boys' first Science fair with the school, and the little girl having a ball, too.

Participation wasn't compulsory, and parents were encouraged to bond with our young scientists. We signed up -- in the spirit of learning.

Getting the ball rolling...
Lots of ideas to glean from library books and educational and wacky videos on the net. We also grew sugar crystals before deciding on Ben's experiment and Jon's demonstration.

Then came the real challenge: how to get the boys to stay interested and not be afraid of the hard work, once their enthusiasm waned.

What were we thinking? Ordinarily, I have to hound them to sit down to homework. How much more resistance I was up against for this. Oh, how it made me jump! :(

Wingardium Leviosa! Jon would rather some "hover charm" levitated his balloons. He and Ben, too, would be more than happy to complete their work at the swish and flick of a wand! Jon had turned Ben into a fellow Harry Potter fan, and read those seven J K Rowling books.

But OK, a first attempt could be daunting. Teamwork eventually worked its magic to see things through. The busy husband set aside his own work to help Jon with the physics of the Bernoulli principle. With "Ben's Bendy Bones", I got the younger boy thinking fun and doable with simple headings and explanations.

Vern also took Kait aside to play, when I worked with the boys on their displayboards. (Whoever's the youngest always knows to pick when my hands are fullest to bond with me ;p). The blank displayboards were like blank pages of a publication to fill up with our own words and pictures. Familiar territory for me, the work I did, and will always enjoy.

But this is theirs, more than mine. And it's not just about these projects I say this:

The greater joy comes from seeing the children put in their own effort. It's perfectly fine if everything looks less put together, so long as they put their hearts and minds to it.

More fun with Science, random moments this week with no school for the boys...

The challenge remains, how to hold their attention for longer than a tot's once the novelty wears off. Hopefully what I lack in structuring our activities, I make up for in feeding them well, well enough. Food is less rocket science than children, ha ha!

Parenting is an art. I feel I know less though, the more I'm challenged. But like science, parenting is also about trial and error. As parents and human beings, we don't stop trying or making mistakes. Am I also not afraid to learn -- even if it means having to let go of what I know?

(pictures added to earlier posting, and links below to science ideas if you're interested).

School's suggested websites:

• all-science-fair-projects.com
• freesciencefairproject.com
• super-science-fair-projects.com
• sciencefair-projects.org

Books I came across at the library that we found helpful as first-timers:

• Gizmos & Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions that work (& knowing why) by Jill Frankel Hauser
• Yikes! Wow! Yuck! Fun Experiments for Your First Science Fair by Elizabeth Snoke Harris
• Last-Minute Science Fair Projects by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
• Science Fair Winners: Crime Scene Science by Karen Romano Young

Boing! Spring has sprung!

I gave my cluttered mind a break, and stepped outside with the children for a much needed breath of fresh air!

Ahhh, downtime, everyone's happy with that. And spring's just sprung!


Hear the birds go "chirp, chirp" and "tweet, tweet". See the shoots just poking out of the ground -- to catch some sun, and rain, more rain to come water them so the buds can bloom.



And keeping it real...
"Miiiiiiinnnnnneeeeee!!!!", cried Kait, as she wailed and screamed after Jon, chasing him down when he stole the ball away from her!

Kait and her ubiquitous "Mine!" all of this month. Sharing is hard -- not just for her, but the older two also.

Then, there's the other "Mine!", that has the reverse effect on them though. The daily challenge of teaching our children to be responsible for those basic things, from homework to putting away their stuff, that are rightfully theirs and ought to be routine by now. Instead, they wrestle with me ("noooooooo!!!"), cry not fair ("why me, why should I?"), and feign ignorance ("but I don't know how")!

Mine... I want to keep my sanity, and our joy -- those smiles that add springs to our steps! Not the disrespect, disobedience, and defiance that see me pull my hair out, and I am still learning not to jump when I'm overwhelmed by all the pushing of buttons. There's much more to parenting I need to learn, one day at time.

Mine...


... mine... and... mine!!!

Kait, all smiles again, when she got back her joy!

Back home...
I was done cooking the rice, and also some boneless chicken in a jiffy using the toaster oven earlier, that's one way to beat the clock and hungry stomachs. Just saves the asparagus, an early spring vegetable I have to do a quick stir-fry with shrimp, and "Guys, dinner's ready!"!


Another day, another chicken dinner...

Right: my version of the "spring chicken", haha!

Below: a more moist Teriyaki chicken.
All oven-roasted, it remains my fave way to cook more portions for planned leftovers, with or without vegetables tossed in to be roasted at the same time (to kill two birds with one stone!).

I like that it's relatively fuss-free, and whatever oil-splattering happens inside the oven. Just don't look there, our basic self-cleaning oven doesn't really clean itself though. Something else for me to add to my springcleaning list, besides our growing clutter!

Up... building castles in the air

After Christmas was when Kait put two Lego blocks together, and went "Vooooooooo!!!" as she waved her first plane creation in the air!

Soon after that, she thought she was ready for this...

Slow down, gal... that "small parts" clause is there for a reason. Good thing she spat out the ones she was hiding from me in her mouth! *wipes sweat, lots of sweat off brow*

In between, I really like what she put together late one night early last month, with a wee bit of help...



Maybe it's not so much some lookout tower of a castle, as it's an "accidental" camera?


Say CHEEEEEESSSE...
Here's looking at you, mommy!

Or mama as she calls me. And Dada had become Papa round about the 15th month when more spoken words clicked for her, at the same time she let her imagination soar!









Kait at 16 to 17 mos, and that's the cot she doesn't sleep in!

Extra love

When we asked the boys for a little less attitude, the younger one asked me for EXTRA LOVE!

I don't think Ben means the TLC us parents give to our children when they are unwell. But he got a dose of that when he threw up after Kait's diarrhea. The puke was really messy, and especially tiring was poor Kait's necessary visits to the bathroom in the wee hours, days in a row even after the diarrhea.

Her adaptor seat has these cool pink handles for a good grip. I'm there, too, the least as mama I can do to lend her the support -- to erm keep going! But at 2am, 3am, or 5 am, what I tried not to think: didn't I say Kait meant business, big business, sitting on the throne?! ;p

Ben's not a napper and Kait fights hard her only nap, so it does take more to try and keep up with them and everything else on sick days like these. He was well first, and she's getting better from her cold. They weren't lethargic, but when Kait nodded off in the car going to fetch Jon, I sent Ben by himself into the school to get Jon, so she could catch some winks never mind strapped in. Then yesterday Jon wasn't finishing later, I didn't drive, and when she dozed off nursing, it was a good thing Ben beat me, with Kait in coat slumped on me, to reaching the end of the street... just in time to catch the schoolbus! *huff, huff* *puff, puff*

Let me end on a lighter note...

Kait brings her Papa to the fridge, and shows him where in the freezer I've tucked away bags of her favourite fruit.

In super quick time, she gobbles up the half cupful, and is asking for "more, more!".

"Can I give her more?" the husband seeks my permission.

Of course she gets another helping. And just picture her giving him a wide smile as she goes "(y)essssssssss"!

"You need to go buy lots of these," Vern tells me next. "She really likes them, what-do-you-call-these... blackberries? Buy more blackberries for her."

Huh? Those sure aren't blackberries he's given Kait to eat.

I look up from the pots and pans I'm not quite done scouring, and glance over the clutter piling up mercilessly on the countertop -- the messes I haven't the energy to sort through yet. Then, my gaze rests on the dear husband.

And this, this is what I get a kick out of telling him, who's bogged down with work himself but not lacking in love for the children. I really appreciate all the help he gives me with them, but it's been another long day and week for both of us.

"Blackberries, what blackberries? You'll have to try the phone shop to get one of those!"

***

In the picture...
Extra Love. Ben plays the doting parent to his digital pet, the Tamagotchi, a present from his Godma. He will "feed" it and "play" with it, and is the only one of us who gets a perfect score for the games that earns him points to buy it treats, from a sandcastle to a boom box.

It was another busy day, and a typical evening with homework to get cracking, dinner to fix, and the children's different needs to multitask. Vern was at work late, and I could not remember at which point zippng here and there earlier in the day Kait still had the "Tama". Was using it to distract her from crying after her wellness check and Hb prick before the quick grocery stop on the way back for the boys. I hunted high and low for it, and even dug into our kitchen trash three times! In the end, we found extra love in Godma -- my awesome pal always there to listen and care even though she lives on the other side of the globe. And also in the good Lord -- our awesome God who answered the simple prayer of a young boy and his frazzled mom. The Tama was in Kait's carseat (all along!), and I found my sanity again, phew! Don't go near Ben though when he plays too well the part of the worried sick parent.