Almost the 4th of July...

Well, here it is. It's almost the 4th of July. I personally love the 4th, all the fireworks and great, peppy, patriotic music, and all that those things represent-the sacrifices made for our freedom. The heat and humidity that's usually associated with July in WI, I can do without.

Alayna asked me yesterday what all the 4th of July meant. She knew it was Independence Day, but she didn't really know what that meant. So I took the opportunity to tell her about our nation's independence from Great Britain, the flag, and the United States in general. Now, if you know Alayna (or have read my family rundown on a previous post) you know she has a genuine thirst for knowledge. This immediately started the long list of questions and answers. She knew each star stood for a state and that each stripe stood for the original "states" or colonies. But she wanted to know more. So, we started with the states. I wrote them all down in alphabetical order, had her read through the list, then try to find them on her interactive Leap Pad map. But that wasn't enough for her. So, I taught her the song I learned in about 3rd grade, singing the states in alphabetical order. Who would have thought that these umpteen years later, I still refer to that song often and it's gotten me an answer on Jeopardy or Millionaire faster than the real contestants? She loved the song, but still wanted more. So, I found an interactive map on the web where she could just put the mouse over a state, and information on that state would show up. She worked on there for awhile, and then the younger kids woke up. Time to get off the computer.

This morning, Alayna woke up eager to learn more. I told her that we could work on it some more when the littler kids were down for their naps. Well, at lunchtime, Alayna was being a bit testy and didn't want to eat, was wanting to sing to the other kids, etc. I was, by proxy, also getting testy. Most 6yo can be threatened by no toys, no going outside to play after rest time, etc. Alayna? My big threat of the day? "If you don't sit down right now and eat nice and quiet, we won't work on the states again today." Let me tell you, I could have put her plate back in the cupboard, that's how clean she got it.