The Pet of the Week

When I wrote last week about the death of our pet roly-polys, I had no idea the pet that was in store for me this week!

Wait for it . . .

A silverfish!

I know!!  Cuddly, right?

The sad thing is that the kids found that gross thing INSIDE the house, lovely!

I caught it to get it out of the house and then they insisted that I help them put it in their bug hotel.  It was quite a process getting it in their bug habitat (that guy is fast!) and I definitely had the thought numerous times of, "Why am I doing this?"

The kids thought it was so unusual looking and named it "Unknown Species".  They were a little disappointed when I told them it was a Silverfish and actually pretty common.

I did put my foot down and say "Unknown Species" was not welcome inside my house, he needed to live in the bug habitat on the patio table.  Of course one of my kids had to point out the irony that the bug was living in our house running FREE before but now that it was trapped safely in the bug habitat I would not let it come inside!  "Good point, but, still, no.  It stays on the patio."

The kids had me research what silverfish eat and as it turns out, this may be the perfect pet for us.  They can go up to a year without eating anything!!!

And for all her cuteness, our dog Madeline

just may not be the favorite pet anymore judging by the time the kids spent with the silverfish this week!

And at least I'll never have to take the silverfish to the groomer!

_____________________________

I totally took the easy way out as far as the contribution I whipped up tonight for the 5th grade bake sale that is tomorrow, but considering I made a from-scratch chocolate cake today for my 7 year old's birthday, I gave myself full freedom to use frozen pre-portioned cookie dough for the bake sale items!  I baked up those babies, slapped some frosting (FROM A CAN) on and sandwiched two of them together.  They fit perfectly into some cellophane treat bags I had left over from a different craft (sometimes I'm glad I'm a pack-rat) and came out pretty cute tied with some red and white bakers twine!

The best part is DONE!  One less thing on my to-do list!

_____________________________

Speaking of DONE, my 11 year old finishes his safety patrol job tomorrow.  He's been training a 4th grader all week to take over his post and tomorrow the 5th graders officially roll-off and the next crop of safety patrols takes over.  I am excited about this!  This week I was talking to a mom I know who has a 4th grade son who is a new safety patrol when she was lamenting the earlier mornings to have the kids at school by 7:20am and it was all I could do to stop myself from dancing right there in front of her with glee that we were almost done with our year!  'Course she'd get the last laugh because she only has 2 kids to go through this 5th grade safety patrol duty and I have a potential 4 years of safety patrol!

There is an end of the year party for the safety patrols but I've found myself saying, "Really, I feel like the parents should get a party, too!"

_____________________________

My son, does not really share my glee about his safety patrol commitment ending.  He's a little sad.  I'm glad he's enjoyed the job and proud of the responsibility he's shown.  We've had some good conversations about how we can be simultaneously sad about one phase ending while also being excited about the new phase we are entering here in his last days of elementary school before middle school.

This week we left the New Student Night at his new middle school and immediately had to go to the elementary school to watch my 1st grader's musical.  As we were walking into the elementary school my 11 year old son said, "I need to go to the restroom.  I didn't want to go at the middle school because I didn't know where it was and figured I'd just go here."  I laughed and told him I understood.  Then I asked if he'd ever heard the term, "comfort zone", I told him, "This elementary school is your comfort zone.  You know everything about it.  All the classrooms, teachers, rules.  It's scary to leave your comfort zone, but that's how you grow as a person.  And before you know it, your new school will feel comfortable, too."

_____________________________

He's a lot more ready for middle school than I am, though.  The principal mentioned a school dance for 6th graders that would be the 2nd week of the new school year and I hyperventilated just a little.  My baby boy going to a school dance?!!!  But, life doesn't slow down, does it?

_____________________________  

I got to have a little date with my 8 year old daughter after our haircuts last Saturday.  

We had a great time and I was delighted at the end when we passed someone in high heels and she asked me, "HOW does anyone walk in those shoes?  It looks so funny!  I don't think I'll every wear shoes like that!"   

In about 8 more years, I'm totally holding her to her no high heels declaration!

_____________________________ 

Happy Friday, y'all!