Calfgrit10 will be going into middle school, (6th grade), starting this summer. The school we’re assigned to had its open house for incoming students this week, and we took our soon-to-be 11 year old over for a look into his next big step. We left Calfgrit7 with his grandmother so we could give CG10 our full attention.

We sat through the welcome and introduction by the school principle, watched a short video about the school, and then walked around in the school. The various clubs had tables and rooms set up to present their subjects, and the visitors crowded the hallways. There were a few clubs/organizations that stood out to me.

The military, (at least the Marines), have a JROTC in middle school? I thought military recruitment didn’t start till high school. I don’t remember it in my middle school years. I don’t have any problem with the military, (I have respect for it/them), but middle school just seems a bit young to start officer recruitment.

There are two reading clubs: Guys Read and Chicklit. Yes, it’s actually called “Chicklit.” We, of course, had to check out the Guys Read club. It’s funny, but Calfgrit10 has already read all but one of the books the club had out on the table as examples. Hanging from the wall beside the table was a t-shirt with, “The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword. But Sword Fights are Pretty Cool.” I wish I had thought of that for a t-shirt.

We also checked out the Science Club. This club had an entire room for its displays. There were several experiments for the kids to play around with, a video showing on the wall screen, and the teacher was the “very excited, so cool” cliche. He waved his arms a lot, danced, sang, and did his best to make “Science!” exciting. This was funny too, because Calfgrit10 is already very interested in science, but he is not at all interested in anyone singing and dancing and making it “Cool!”.

After visiting the clubs, we three walked around to find the cafeteria and gymnasium. CG10 wanted to compare everything to what he was used to at elementary school. He seemed satisfied that middle school wasn’t some strange and terrifying institution that he’d be lost in.

Later, he asked why there were so many clubs and activities at middle school. Wifegrit explained how they are for learning more about interests, and then she added, “It also helps kids stay out of trouble.”

Calfgrit10 asked, “What kind of trouble?”

Wifegrit realized she probably said more than she needed to with him, (we have no worries of him getting into trouble), and she didn’t want to put any ideas into his head, so she kind of . . . oh, well . . . just . . . nothing you need to worry about . . . avoided giving a direct answer.

Calfgrit10 looked at her sincerely, and reassured her, “Don’t worry Mom, I’m never going to drink soft drinks. I know they’re not good for me.”

Bullgrit

By Wifegrit

Am I getting old? According to my kids, I am!

My youngest stated, “Mom, I am the active one in the family. Calfgrit10 sits and reads books. I like to move around.”

My oldest stated “Yeah, and no offense mom, but you and dad are old and sit around a lot.”

My reaction in my head: I sit around a lot?? When do I sit? I rarely sit down!!! Huff huff!

My husband said something with the saying, “You brought everything except the kitchen sink.” Looking at the boys he asked them, “Do you know what that means?”

“Of course not,” my oldest replied, “that is an old person saying”.

We had a wonderful meal at my mother’s-in-law house yesterday. Ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, apple pie, and ice cream, oh yeah. All the foods that I and Wifegrit grew up with and love, but stuff that our boys just aren’t interested in. Calfgrit10 said when he grows up and has Thanksgiving at his house, he’ll serve pizza.

The boys played inside and outside most of the morning, after they lost interest in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. (What’s up with that TV presentation nowadays? More than half the show is talking with celebrities, show clips from concerts or Broadway plays, etc. They hardly spend any time actually showing the parade itself.)

At one point Calfgrit7 asked if the turkey had a wishbone. I don’t know where that question came from. “Yes,” we said, “turkeys have wishbones.” We talked about the process and purpose of breaking the wishbone, and he got really excited at the idea of getting a wish. He kept talking about it and asking when he and his brother could break it. He declared that his wish would be for a horse. (The boy loves horses.)

Right after taking the turkey out of the cooker and getting all the meat off, we let the boys try to break it. We explained how they have to hold it, and they can’t look at it.

I remember my brother and I breaking a wishbone just about every Sunday after lunch after church. We’d hold it under the table and break it. After several times, I think we both had little secret gimmicks for breaking it in our favor. I don’t know how well the tricks actually worked, but the process was fun none the less.

For my boys, we covered the bone and their hands with a dish towel. They pulled on it, but their hands kept slipping off the the moist bone. After a few tries, all they could do was bend the bone a bit. So we set it aside to dry, (to make it easier to grasp and brittle to break). All during the meal, Calfgrit7 kept asking about the wishbone. His interest and anxiousness was cute at first, but after a while, geez, it got tiring.

They tried breaking it again right after the meal, but although it was drier and they could keep a grip on it, it would just bend. They couldn’t get it to break.

So we came up with the idea of putting it in the still warm oven and letting it dry out more in the heat. We put it in and set the timer for 15 minutes. Calfgrit7 asked about how much longer it would be every 30 seconds. (That kid has got to learn some patience. For my sanity.)

At last, the timer told us the bone should be dry and brittle. Calfgrit7 ran to get his brother for the breaking.

I told the adults that I needed to handle the bone breaking, as I had noticed, when the boys tried earlier, how the bone would probably break. I wanted to make sure CG7 got the end most likely to result in the biggest piece. Both boys held their end of the bone, I put the towel over their hands, and they pulled.

Snap! They pulled their hands out from under the towel, and sure enough, CG7 held the biggest piece. He stepped back, closed his eyes, and made his wish. He was silent, but his lips moved with the words in his head. I’ve never seen him do that, even when blowing out birthday candles.

He gave me the bone and ran from the room. A minute later he came back, frustrated.

“I messed up my wish,” he said. “I forgot to say which stairs.”

OK, that’s a bit weird. He said earlier he was going to wish for a horse. And now he’s lamenting his failure to be clear about which staircase he’d find his wish? He never told us what he ended up wishing for, (a horse or something esle?), but he kept complaining that he messed up his wish. He wasn’t real torn up about it, but he was disappointed. We explained that there are other wishbones, and who knows, he may find his wish come true in a surprising way because he was specific enough. (No, we are not getting him a horse.)

It might be fun over the next weeks to point out stairs he can check out to see if his wish came true on them. Or maybe it might be cruel. Hmm. I’ll have to think about that.

Bullgrit

by Wifegrit

My thoughts….(never a dull moment).

I am not a fan of the time change. It drives me nuts. Yes, in the summer, I love the longer days but in the winter I dislike the shorter, dark so early days.

Also, it is so hard on the kids. No, let me rephrase that, it is so hard on the parents! My youngest was up at 4:30 am Sunday. The next morning, both boys were up before 6 am. Monday morning they were both up at 6 am. That is a full 3 hours before school starts!! It was the longest morning of my life.

So, I didn’t “gain” an hour of sleep. I lost 2-3 hours of sleep. Let’s see. Calfgrit10 is 10 years. So the way I figure it, in the last ten years the time change had caused me to lose about 40 hours of sleep. (That doesn’t count sleep lost from nights the kids are sick, went to the ER.)

Did I mention I am not a fan of the time change?

On the humorous side: I can see the headlines in the newspaper:

Mother sues government for lost sleep.

“She states it caused her whole family to wake up too early, be very grumpy and fight too much. The mother demands 3 mornings of uninterrupted sleep till 8 am.”