Furlough Friday Fieldtrip

I just shake my head. Furlough Fridays are the Bad SNL skit that just won't quit. The news stations do their take, the radio talks about it nonstop. Friends even mention national news stories about Hawaii having the fewest days of school per year, before the furloughs. Eh, Bygones. I decided that I was going to try and edumacate my children on these Fridays they are now off school.  I asked Kiera if she would rather go to the museum or the zoo. She said zoo. So I took the morning to teach Phillip and Kiera about vertebrates while Lily and Bella colored zoo pictures. Then we made each of them a Zoo Book to take along and record observations of the different types of vertebrates. Lily and Bella basically just lost their pencils and complained the whole day about losing their pencils- but Phillip and Kiera both said learning at the zoo was fun.

I was worried that the zoo would be packed and every other parent would be doing the same thing. Nope. It was empty. Of course it has been unusually warm here still and the VOG is really bad. According to my other mom friends, everyone took the day off to go shopping and the malls were packed. The exit to the mall was backed up onto the highway. People that have to work- put their kids in "Furlough Friday Fun" care at $25-45 a day. So people will pay for "fun" care, but not education. Okey dokey. Talk about a great economic stimulus plan. People who don't work, take their kids shopping, people who do invest in child care programs which go on field trips to local sites, and the hoodlums who are unsupervised generate business for the local police enforcement. Yea.

Not me,  I learned the difference between amphibians and reptiles and am really grateful for google via Blackberry.  We did learn that the Honolulu Zoo is heavy on mammals and lizards. And we did have to reprimand monitor lizards for 'wrestling' on the rocks because they might fall and get hurt. Phillip looks at me and whispers "they're not really wrestling, are they?"  Nope. "Eww that's disgusting." At least we didn't have to linger after that.

I also was reminded that Honolulu is a tough place to teach the nakey babies of mine that it is a socially acceptable practice to wear clothing in public. "Why doesn't he have a shirt on mama?" "His pants are falling down. They are too big for him" It doesn't help that the beach is across the street from the zoo, but really- could you throw a shirt on?

As for Miss Kiera Faye. We have started a new regimen that includes "home-homework" as she calls it.  A good friend who is also a teacher pointed out that we probably wouldn't get much support from the school and pointed me in the right direction to help her with some additional skills.  Some days I think it's an attention thing and some days I swear she is not firing on all cylinders.  Time will tell.