The Bean menagerie

February 28, 2013

We have two snakes in the house. Their names are Ichabod Crane and George Washington. The kindergartner named them. One is yellow and the other is blue.

Moose and Ichabod Crane.They’re plastic. But I still scream when I see them and run through the house with Moose following behind me going, “Sssssssssssssssssssssssss.”

“No, please don’t get me. Go get Papa,” I plead.

And then Moose, being an obedient little boy, goes after Papa.

Papa jumps up in mock fright and Moose giggles and tries to sic the snake on him.

It’s a vicious cycle, but, hey, we’re burning a few calories.

We also have an anteater. The kindergartner—that would be Jax—drew the name of a Rain Forest animal out of a hat and was given instructions to learn about the animal, write down three facts about said animal, then construct a model (instructions specifically said no drawings), and prepare to give a presentation in class.

The one time I would have chosen for him to pick a snake, Jax chose a &#@! anteater.

bball, boys, anteater Jan-Feb 077So I asked Google how to make a clay model anteater. And Google said to construct a skeleton out of aluminum foil and wire and slap clay on the carcass.

It was a family affair, and when it was done, the Bean anteater looked like a cross between a weenie dog and a horse. The body was too long. We all agreed. So I took a small saw and cut an inch out of the anteater’s midsection, and then I used a wooden skewer reconnect his front and hind quarters and more clay, of course, to patch him up.

I made Jax practice his presentation several times.  The kid can’t be still, and I’m afraid he’s going to screw up my grade.

That’s about as exciting as it’s been at Maison Bean these days.

 

{ 9 comments }

Irene February 28, 2013 at 3:17 pm

O.M.G can he get any cuter?????

They start early now with parental projects. I didn’t have to do one until 3rd grade. It was an Indian long house including plastic fish. This is just the beginning, Jen. Wait til you get the “it’s due tomorrow” statement.

Jenn February 28, 2013 at 4:36 pm

Irene, it’s KINDERGARTEN! What are these people thinking?!

There’s homework, world wall words, reading assignments, math….

When I was in kindergarten, I was trying to color in the lines and figure out why the left-handed scissors I had didn’t work. And by the end of the school year, I started using right-handed scissors and they worked just fine. Much later, I would learn that I wrote left handed but cut right handed.

I guess it’s new times and all that, but it sure is exhausting. Thanks for stopping by!

Jenny

Kristy K. James February 28, 2013 at 7:32 pm

Just wait until high school. Kids are lucky if they have time to eat supper with the family (those who care about their grades anyway). But what annoys me about grade school is that so much of it falls on the parents. You know what? When I was in school, the only one who did homeword assignments was ME. My mom might have helped out with spelling quizzes, but that was it.

Still, you have a very lovely anteater, and you should get an A+ for it. Jax should get an A+ for the presentation though…because that is adorable!!! 🙂

Irene March 1, 2013 at 9:12 am

I can’t believe the teacher is going to grade this. It’s KINDERGARTEN! Like you said, they should be learning which scissors to use and that crayons work best on paper, not walls, and melt faster on radiators.

Jenn March 1, 2013 at 11:41 am

At this rate, he’ll be doing college work in middle school!

Ally March 1, 2013 at 8:24 pm

OMG, so cute!! But this: ” The kid can’t be still, and I’m afraid he’s going to screw up my grade.” MY grade – completely cracked me up!!!! I suppose because I’ve totally been there…

papa March 2, 2013 at 8:41 am

I never made good grades on science projects and now know why. My folks were under the mistaken impression that the children were suppose to do THEIR OWN PROJECT.

Jenny, you die a nice job on this one but you might want to put a mechanical and electric engineer on retainer before third grade.
Papa

Shell March 4, 2013 at 9:46 am

So when do you get your final grade? That is QUITE a project for a kindergartner! I think Papa has the right idea- start researching those mechanical and electrical engineers now.

portia March 17, 2013 at 1:08 am

you know you don’t need any engineers or experts…. you just need to call me. I have all kinds of ideas about that kind of stuff…

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