the mother, the teacher, the event planner

the first "annual" (maybe, possibly, if you had asked me a few days ago NO, but now that it is over probably) Angelou Science Fair was held last night.

it all happened because one day last april a super mom, fantastic friend and full on do-gooder named karen said "hey, we should organize a science fair at our kids' school, you know, since we don't have anything else to do but raise some kids and go to all 42 weekly activities they are in, be wives, work, and breathe once in a while".  and i am pretty sure that is exactly how she said it too.  and how could i say no to that kind of rational salesmanship?

so down the road of crazy science fair planning we went, skipping all the way.

the event planner in me is so very thankful that through all of the ups and downs, praises and accusations, helpful and not so helpful suggestions, i had karen there with me.  tracy was our go to rockstar of the school.  she gets things done.  i don't think anyone could navigate that school without her.  our husbands and our kids lent hands, listening ears and gave us time to get this done and to them i say thank you.  today i am also very thankful that writing templates, rubrics, emails and phone calls and shielding my inner people pleas-er from dissatisfied parents is a thing of the past for a little while at least.

the teacher in me is amazed at the scientific prowess of children! you should have seen some of the thought and creativity that went into these projects.  the enthusiasm was palatable.  the hum of excitement was gratifying. some said we had set the bar too high, but boy did those kids strive to reach it. i hope when these students are in high school they all get shuffled into my classes because we will have some serious science fun!

and the mother in me is so proud of my two children for working on the areas that need the most of their attention. they both designed their own experiment based on what interested them most, the way a good scientist does. 

aidan wanted to showcase his beloved gecko and who can blame him? she is gorgeous and soft and inquisitive and he has devoted so much time and care for her.  aidan didn't win, he didn't place and he didn't show, but he did shine.  when there was a glitch in the system (i can blame the event planner in me for that)   he shrugged, gave me a bear hug and went off to check on his gecko.  no wailing about the injustice of it all.   it has taken years for us to see a glimpse of this more mature version of him.  my mom and dad reminded me that it took me many more years to hold my tears when i lost, but let us not dwell on that.

nadia focused on her one true love...chocolate. i am sure her hope was to prove the nutritionists of the world wrong with her cricket experiment but alas, vitamins and minerals prevailed.  nadia sat patiently writing out her question and with her tongue sticking out all micheal jordan style she wrote and wrote and wrote and then diagrammed her project.  she checked the death rate and eventually conceded to the fact that doritos & chocolate are not good diet choices for crickets and surmised on her own that they probably are not good for us humans either.  while dedication has never been her weak spot, focusing on something like reading and writing has been.  she rocked the elementary science world, winning 1st place among the 2nd graders. 

and can you believe that the mother- this mother- didn't take one picture of the event?!?