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| Not the one from the doctor’s office but it looked it. Except ours was pooping. |
For most of this week, I’ve barely step foot outside of my apartment. Sophia woke up Monday morning with a 101F fever but no other symptoms except a slight cough. I was the responsible parent and kept her home from school though I was a wee bit tempted to send her. After two days of fever (and little else) a change in her skin convinced me to call the doctor. Yesterday I took her in for a sick visit-my first time outside in three days.
That’s where we met the sea cucumber. Maybe stalking might be a better term. Between the squishy looking sea cucumber and Harry the Hermit Crab (the kids named him), the kids were entertained by the salt water aquarium at our pediatrician’s office. I should have asked what they would name the sea cucumber.
I stepped away to settle things with the receptionist and the next thing I hear form the kids is “It’s pooping!”
“Mommy, the sea cucumber is pooping!”
Nothing is more hilarious than poop when you’re under 8 years old. I ran over to look. It was pretty cool. The pink and black slimy looking thing pooped gravel. I explained to the kids how they sucked up the gravel so they could eat all the algae on it. Then it just passed on through. I have no idea how I remembered anything about sea cucumbers.
Let me tell you, that pooping sea cucumber was the highlight of their morning. Which might not be saying much because we’ve been stuck inside for 3 days.
They were so excited to witness such a monumental event that I had to promise them we’d visit the library to borrow books about hermit crabs, red algae, and sea cucumbers. I love it when my kids become so excited and curious about the world around them. I know I could just go home and pull up info on our iPad for them to look at, but there’s something about a book. Instead, I take them to the library, teach them how to ask the librarian for help and we read the books together. No matter how gross or creepy they big the photos are in the book. Try reading a book about spiders with photos of huge, hairy multiple-eyed things.
Watching my kids reminded me that science is all around us. From the science of fevers and germs to cool sea life in an aquarium.
They have no idea how much I sacrificed for them by googling “sea slug” and “sea cucumber” to find a photo for this post. I guess it will make me a stronger person when we borrow the books from the library.
What cool things have your kids been interested in?
Photo by Ed Bierman via Creative Commons.