Not with a Bang but a Whimper

School's Out for Summer!  Time to Go Fishin'!

This school year went out with a whimper, not a bang, because my little one is ill.  I don’t know what the kids learned this year, but here are few things I learned.

- It is sad for one’s youngest child to miss her last day of elementary school.  It leaves no opportunity for celebration or closure for either of us.   She is disappointed that she missed her chance to tell the school what she wants to be when she grows up.  So I will tell my three readers now:  She wants to be a writer and a scientist.  You go, girl!

- I don’t know the lingo of the next generation.  For instance:
Oldest Daughter to Son:  “My bio notes PONE your bio notes!”
Me:  “What does ‘pone’ mean?”
Son:  It’s spelled ‘pwn.’
Me:  That is not a word.
Oldest Daughter:  You just THINK that because you are not HIP.
Husband:  Maybe it’s a word in French.

- My oldest child’s assessment of the high school Honors English teacher:  “Mrs. A is small and intimidating, like a nuclear warhead.”

- My youngest is in favor of training rabbits to protect the house from thieves.

- An enthusiastic teacher who likes kids can do wonders for a student’s participation and grade.  Thank you, Mr. S, thou rare thunder-darting welsh cheese (that’s supposed to be a Shakespearean compliment).  Take that, Mrs. Smith, thou artless folly-fallen scullian!   Thou mangled pottle-deep canker-blossom!

- Failsafe mechanisms are not failsafe.  (The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico makes me sad beyond words.)  Machines are not foolproof* and they do wear out.  To wit, we need to get a new timing belt and water pump in the car before we go visiting colleges this summer. And a new washer would be good too.
* Especially when fools are in charge of the machines.

What did you learn this school year?