Tuesday
Jun122007
CAMP MOMMY: Divide & Conquer, A Good Day
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 09:35PM
Today was a good day, much better than yesterday, which is a very good thing.
The kids all got up early this morning, and actually did their Daily Chore, more or less to standard, which was a wonderful way to start the day.
The oldest, 12yo Son, then went to work with Dad.
The girl, 9yo Daughter, had day-camp today, had a great time.
The youngest, 6yo Son, had a Date With Mom: We went to Zoo Atlanta, which is one of our favorite places. Today was the first time we've been to the zoo this summer.
I understand, the older two aren't as jazzed about a trip to the zoo as they used to be, and that's okay. That's why I took the youngest, just the two of us, so we could enjoy it and not have the pestering and whining and "Can we go now?!" following us around all day. (Not to mention the inevitable expense of Attraction Passes, sodas, ice cream, etc.) It really worked out very well.
Last year, all then-5yo Son wanted to do at the zoo was to climb the Rock Wall on an Unlimited Attraction Pass ($5 for Zoo Members), over and over and over, all day long. I'm not sure he even realized there were actually animals at the zoo...
We went to the Rock Wall first this morning (UAP is now $5.50 for Members!), and he climbed to the top 5 times...and then he was ready to go! Not leave the zoo, but go and explore: See the animals!! Well, kind of: We went to the Children's Playground (eh); then rode on the Miniature Train (wah wah wah); he rode the Carousel (yay); and then we walked through the Children's Area and visited the Alligator; the Kangaroos (curiously proximate to one another); and the Petting Zoo, which was really fun.
It was in the Petting Zoo that I found myself wishing I had brought the 12yo Son along. As we were hanging out with the sheep, goats and pigs in the Petting Zoo, I remembered a recent moment with 12yo Son: We enjoy watching America's Funniest Videos (AFV) in the evening as a family -- everyone loves it, especially the more recent shows with host Tom Bergeron (not Bob Saget, who we all loathe and make fun of constantly -- we skip most of his in-between-video moments, just too painfully un-funny. But Tom, we love. As a further aside, two of the new tadpoles are named "Tom" and "Bergeron" (by the kids), so there you go.)
Anyway, we were watching AFV one evening, and a quick clip came up, showing a SHEEP. Our 12yo Son, looks at the SHEEP and says, "Oh look, it's a GOAT!" OMG. Our little redneck City Boy obviously hasn't visited the country (as in the farm) near enough -- and we will all live never to let him forget it. Now it's a constant refrain, no matter what the situation: "Oh look, it's a GOAT!" (He even does it to himself, so I don't think we are damaging him irreparably -- the therapy later in life will fix him right up!)
So I probably should have taken him with me to the Petting Zoo today, and made sure we straighten out these urban misconceptions the child is suffering. Since he wasn't there (and 6yo Son can actually identify his barnyard animals), we took a picture of a SHEEP on the cellphone, and sent it to 12yo Son's cellphone, SUBJECT: LOOK, It's a GOAT!! (Of course we did.)
Note to Self: Must pick up a copy of Old MacDonald Had a Farm, with pictures and sounds...
After the Petting Zoo, we walked up through the Reptile House, which was AWESOME! I still think about that scene in the first Harry Potter book & movie, when he goes to the zoo with his Muggle aunt, uncle and cousin and disappears the glass in the huge snake display...remember? Ooh, gives me shivers!
After such a wonderful morning at the zoo, we picked 9yo Daughter up from camp, and discovered yet another little wooded oasis surrounding a 'clean' creek within the city limits, so we spent an hour or so back to nature, playing in the creek, which is always fun, until 9yo Daughter slipped on a stepping stone and fell in, bruising her hip on a rock, crying LOUDLY (this is the Drama Queen), as I half-carried her (with 6yo Son & Mocha The Dog in tow) over the river and through the woods, back up the trail to the Jeep. She milked sympathy and special treatment for her 'injury' the rest of the afternoon...
We did D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) Independent Reading, all together, between 4 and 5 o'clock, and then they played with Legos until it all went to hell and Dad finally got home... We did D.E.A.R. Together (currently reading The Sisters Grimm Book 1: The Fairy-Tale Detectives) after dinner, just before bedtime, and they each spun the Chore Wheel for tomorrow's Daily Chore.
All in all, a very good day...
The kids all got up early this morning, and actually did their Daily Chore, more or less to standard, which was a wonderful way to start the day.
The oldest, 12yo Son, then went to work with Dad.
The girl, 9yo Daughter, had day-camp today, had a great time.
The youngest, 6yo Son, had a Date With Mom: We went to Zoo Atlanta, which is one of our favorite places. Today was the first time we've been to the zoo this summer.
What a difference a year makes:
I understand, the older two aren't as jazzed about a trip to the zoo as they used to be, and that's okay. That's why I took the youngest, just the two of us, so we could enjoy it and not have the pestering and whining and "Can we go now?!" following us around all day. (Not to mention the inevitable expense of Attraction Passes, sodas, ice cream, etc.) It really worked out very well.
Last year, all then-5yo Son wanted to do at the zoo was to climb the Rock Wall on an Unlimited Attraction Pass ($5 for Zoo Members), over and over and over, all day long. I'm not sure he even realized there were actually animals at the zoo...
We went to the Rock Wall first this morning (UAP is now $5.50 for Members!), and he climbed to the top 5 times...and then he was ready to go! Not leave the zoo, but go and explore: See the animals!! Well, kind of: We went to the Children's Playground (eh); then rode on the Miniature Train (wah wah wah); he rode the Carousel (yay); and then we walked through the Children's Area and visited the Alligator; the Kangaroos (curiously proximate to one another); and the Petting Zoo, which was really fun.
It was in the Petting Zoo that I found myself wishing I had brought the 12yo Son along. As we were hanging out with the sheep, goats and pigs in the Petting Zoo, I remembered a recent moment with 12yo Son: We enjoy watching America's Funniest Videos (AFV) in the evening as a family -- everyone loves it, especially the more recent shows with host Tom Bergeron (not Bob Saget, who we all loathe and make fun of constantly -- we skip most of his in-between-video moments, just too painfully un-funny. But Tom, we love. As a further aside, two of the new tadpoles are named "Tom" and "Bergeron" (by the kids), so there you go.)
Anyway, we were watching AFV one evening, and a quick clip came up, showing a SHEEP. Our 12yo Son, looks at the SHEEP and says, "Oh look, it's a GOAT!" OMG. Our little redneck City Boy obviously hasn't visited the country (as in the farm) near enough -- and we will all live never to let him forget it. Now it's a constant refrain, no matter what the situation: "Oh look, it's a GOAT!" (He even does it to himself, so I don't think we are damaging him irreparably -- the therapy later in life will fix him right up!)
So I probably should have taken him with me to the Petting Zoo today, and made sure we straighten out these urban misconceptions the child is suffering. Since he wasn't there (and 6yo Son can actually identify his barnyard animals), we took a picture of a SHEEP on the cellphone, and sent it to 12yo Son's cellphone, SUBJECT: LOOK, It's a GOAT!! (Of course we did.)
Note to Self: Must pick up a copy of Old MacDonald Had a Farm, with pictures and sounds...
After the Petting Zoo, we walked up through the Reptile House, which was AWESOME! I still think about that scene in the first Harry Potter book & movie, when he goes to the zoo with his Muggle aunt, uncle and cousin and disappears the glass in the huge snake display...remember? Ooh, gives me shivers!
After such a wonderful morning at the zoo, we picked 9yo Daughter up from camp, and discovered yet another little wooded oasis surrounding a 'clean' creek within the city limits, so we spent an hour or so back to nature, playing in the creek, which is always fun, until 9yo Daughter slipped on a stepping stone and fell in, bruising her hip on a rock, crying LOUDLY (this is the Drama Queen), as I half-carried her (with 6yo Son & Mocha The Dog in tow) over the river and through the woods, back up the trail to the Jeep. She milked sympathy and special treatment for her 'injury' the rest of the afternoon...
We did D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) Independent Reading, all together, between 4 and 5 o'clock, and then they played with Legos until it all went to hell and Dad finally got home... We did D.E.A.R. Together (currently reading The Sisters Grimm Book 1: The Fairy-Tale Detectives) after dinner, just before bedtime, and they each spun the Chore Wheel for tomorrow's Daily Chore.
All in all, a very good day...
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