The Amazing Water Experiment

My six year old did his first science fair experiment today. We are putting the project together for a science fair in March. It was fun, because he really didn't know what would happen. Here's his write up:

Introduction: My project is about me putting hot and cold water with food coloring. Why we did that was because we wanted to see if they would mix or not. And we figured out that they mixed when the cold water is on the top, but when the hot water was on the top, it did not mix. It stayed how it was.

What did you think would happen? The hot and cold water would mix.

Materials: We used two baby jars without the food in them, and we used a piece of wax paper, and hot water and cold water with food coloring in them.

Research: We found some different experiments on the Internet and we picked this one.

What did I do?
We put hot water in one jar and we put cold water in one jar. We put some food coloring in the water. We put red in the hot water, and we put blue in the cold water. We flipped the jar of cold water that was blue on top of the jar of hot water that was red. I pulled out the wax paper between the jars, and the water mixed and turned purple in both jars.

We did the same thing again, but we put the hot water that was red on top and it turned out to not mix. The red stayed red and the blue stayed blue.

What did I learn? That the cold water is heavier than the hot water, so the hot water could not go down into the cold water.

Awesome, isn't it?

Running Down a Head Cold

Just a quick update -

I ran 6 today, with a sinus headache and lots of phlegm clogging me up. It was the hardest 6 miles I have done in a while, but I did it. It was actually warm, too, and I was overdressed and sweaty. We had to run in the grass at times because the trail was flooded in a few places.

In our parenting class it is recommended that caretakers spend time taking care of themselves. I consider my running as part of my "caretaker time." A head cold wasn't going to deprive me of it, even if the last two miles were a little foggy and slow!

Parenting 101

My husband and I enrolled in a parenting class offered by my son's elementary school. It's called "Active Parenting Now." Now that my son is six and he's in all day kindergarten, we have been quite challenged in trying to deal with his newfound influences from school and the stage that he's in. Judging from what I hear from other parents, it's a normal stage he's going through, but it is also very difficult to deal with. It's the time of backtalk, refusing to listen, challenging authority, and namecalling.

Now that we faced with this stage, his preschool years seemed like a cakewalk. That's the stage our two year old is in, and while it is difficult, we more or less know how to handle it. And he's still in a stage where he wants to help and please us.

But with our six year old we are treading in new waters. I have unfortunately found myself a few times screaming at the top of my lungs, with my son matching me at the same decibel, word for word. I've heard my words coming back at me out of my son's mouth. I've had to just walk away sometimes and just cool off. I admit I have a pretty good temper, and I need to control it. But I also need help figuring out what to do.

(Ok mom stop laughing!)

I somehow convinced my husband to sign up for this class with me and he's been great. It's one night a week but it is on a night where he has his Boston training scheduled. Nevertheless he has figured out how to be flexible. The school provides dinner (pizza) and child care during the two hours we spend in the class. The kids go into the the lunch room and are let loose.

Meanwhile, we sit with other frazzled parents trying to figure out how to cope. We have only been to one class but we've actually seen some results. We were very skeptical, and when they started to play the video which accompanies the workshop, the hokiest song came on and my husband and I looked at each other with that "what in the world have we gotten ourselves into" look. We thought we were in for some touchy-feely stuff that would never work with OUR kids. They were too much like us (stubborn, quick tempered, smart, persistent, opinionated, etc. etc.).

The focus of the first session was mutual respect. What really stuck with me was the concept that you should talk to and treat your kids with the same respect that you would treat other adults. Obviously you cannot do this literally, but the example they gave was of a mother scolding her daughter for interrupting her in language I am all too familiar with (i.e. how many times have I told you, blah blah, because I said so....young lady), and then the mother interrupting the child, with the child using the exact same language and tone, including substituting "mature woman" for the words "young lady." The reasoning behind this approach, and why it works, is because you are trying to teach your child how to respect others now and when they grow up.

We learned a lot during the first session. But then it was time to go, and we had to pick up our kids from the lunch room. They were allowed to run around wild with some poor high school home economic students and the PTA president to watch them. The perfect opportunity to try our techniques! As the boys kept running around in circles and refusing to come over to us, I could feel the pressure - how would I get them to listen without yelling at them and threatening them with time outs? It was truly a test. We somehow managed to do it, although it took a long time.

When we got home, I felt as though my husband and I were truly a team. We were both trying out the new techniques and, despite the late hour and the fact the kids were terribly wired, we managed to get them to bed with no yelling and no pulling our hair out. We did good!

Since then, we keep trying. I think have said "In our family, we..." about a hundred times now. You are supposed to do this to set expectations for your children and let them know why we expect them to behave a certain way. It's better to say "in our family we treat each other with respect. We do not call each other names. You don't want your brother to call YOU poopyhead, do you? What if your teacher called you poopyhead? How would you feel?" instead of simply, "don't call your brother a poopyhead" which I have said in some form several times to no avail.

We are encouraged. It seemed silly to take a class. But parenting is HARD. And there is no manual. You try to do the best you can. If someone offers you some help, you take it!

A Night to Remember

It all started when I was getting my hair cut. The stylist was asking questions to try to get me to talk. I don't do small talk, and usually don't do it when I'm getting my hair cut. So, to stylists, I guess I'm a challenge.

"Do you have big plans tonight?"

"No."

"Are you doing anything for the Super Bowl?"

"No."

"Are you doing something for Valentine's Day?"

"No."

$40.00 later, a little less hair, and a new overpriced, smelly product to try, I'm walking out the door thinking how pathetic my life is. We never go out. Even as a family we don't go out that much.

So when I got home I suggested we go out to dinner. My husband has a 21 miler in the morning, I need to replenish my carbs from my 5 miler, and the kids wanted pizza. We are sick of ordering out and there was nothing planned for dinner so everyone thought it was a good idea. Except my six year old who cannot sit still for a minute, unless you have new Pokemon cards to trade. He thought it would take way too long to get to the restaurant, and then we would have to wait for the pizza forever! Sometimes it does feel that way when you are hungry, doesn't it?

It took us ten minutes to get to the restaurant, a nice, popular Italian place which has a good kids menu and an a decent adult menu. It's casual enough that we could wear jeans, but nice enough that my husband switched from the jeans with the holes to the new jeans. There were lots of families there but also dressed up people. A good in between place. Kind of in between Max and Ermas and Mitchell's. (there might actually be a lot of room in between there....)

I ordered two kids pizzas for the kids and we ordered our food. The kids filled up on bread and water while we waited. When the food arrived, the kids' pizzas were huge! My two year old would never be able to eat all of that. Looked like we would have lots of leftovers. I took a slice of the pizza from the plate and cut it up for him.

Wouldn't you know it, he wouldn't eat it at all. He pushed the plate away. My six year old said he was full but kept eating until only two pieces were left on his plate. The waitress came by and took my empty plate and I asked if she could box up the pizza my two year old wouldn't eat. She took the plates and then came back with a pizza box that we set down on the table.

My two year old piped up, "Pizza!" My husband and I looked at each other in disbelief.
"I want it. I want pizza!" He now wanted the pizza because it came in the box. As if all the pizza we eat comes from pizza boxes. I gave him a fresh slice and he slowly ate it by licking off the cheese and gnawing on the crust.

I had promised the kids that if they were good we would get ice cream later. So despite the fact that I felt totally bloated, we stopped for ice cream. It's really fun to watch kids in an ice cream shop before and after they eat their ice cream. They wait eagerly to order, and then dive right in when they are handed their cones. They sit pretty quietly while they eat. Then all of a sudden the ice cream cone is gone, the sugar buzz starts, and your six year old son is standing up, shaking his rear end, and singing very loudly "I'm shaking my booty! I'm shaking my booty!" He even turned himself around to demonstrate.

My husband and I laughed so hard we cried. Then we tried to be serious and get him to sit down but it didn't work very well. Then the two year old starts shaking his little booty, except he still has a cone in his hand and ice cream dripping everywhere.

It was definitely a night to remember.

Happy Birthday Dad

He loves the Steelers. He has 4 remote controls and hundreds of channels to watch. He loves terrible B science fiction movies. He enjoys a beer or two. Golf is his passion. He's my Dad! And it's his birthday today.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I know you've been under the weather lately so I wanted to send you get well and happy birthday wishes from me and the boys.

I'll be thinking of you tomorrow when I am out running 5 miles in the icy cold weather! Stay warm!