Science Class

Tropical Storm Andrea is headed towards us and has brought us already two days of rain. Our back yard is flooded; our cul-de-sac is a pond. We have been stuck inside, wishing we were some place else, or at the very least, doing something a little more productive than watching the rain fall. I remembered the science kits the boys received as Christmas gifts and suggested we curb our boredom with an experiment or two. So instead of watching the rain fall, Evan made goo.

He carefully mixed the water and goo powder. He shook it vigorously and complained that the directions needed to be more specific. I'm not sure how "shake vigorously for five minutes" needed more explanation.

After careful examination, it was time to watch the goo defy gravity and climb the test tube. I suppose we did something wrong at the shake vigorously step because we had nothing climb our test tube. There was some big disappointment and some broken goo dreams for this guy.

After his pathetic screams of "This is CRAP, Mom!" and his storming through the house mad as a hornet, I realized he had thrown the goo down the drain. This done when the very next line in the directions says, "When done playing with the goo, place excess in a trash can. Pouring goo down the drain can cause major plumbing problems."

Then it was my turn for pathetic screams and storming through the house.

I found my way to Keagan's room when I realized he had been a little too quiet for at least half an hour. I found him sitting in the middle of the carpet with his own science kit.  He had citric acid, corn starch, and water lined up in front of him. Packages ripped open. White powder all over his red shirt, which inevitably meant white powder was also all over the carpet. It was the horror of finding red cabbage powder poured all over the carpet with about two flakes having actually made it into a test tube, though, that sent me over the edge.

Science class has been canceled. The boys are now outside, playing basketball in the pond while the tropical storm barrels right over us.