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Posts Tagged ‘paleontology’

Dig It

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on July 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow oldest son will feel more like a paleontologist.  He will have officially gone on a fossil dig.  He is so excited he can barely contain himself.  He can barely contain himself on most days, so he is really bouncy today.  Add to it that a young lady he is very fond of will be joining him on the dig.  She digs dinosaurs too and that makes oldest son smile from ear to ear.  The day will be filled with funny moments…I must remember not to embarrass him.

Funnier moments will come from the idea of oldest son asking youngest son to be his wing man.  The modern interpretation of this role really isn’t that different from the original, a pilot who supports another pilot in a possibly dangerous flying situation.  But picture it–a six-year-old trying to be wing man for an eight-year-old.  Neither of these guys have any experience with the ladies.

The advice this evening at bedtime was to be yourself, less is more, and think of her first.

My main function tomorrow is two-fold.  Do not embarrass the big guy as he tries to impress her.  And run defense for the wing man.  Can you dig it?

 

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Take Your Child to Work Day

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Youngest son enjoyed his day with Daddy.  They took G’Pop to the doctor’s office and had lunch at Friendly’s.  Then they went to the office that Daddy works at on Thursday afternoons.  He had a fun day and played with one of the patient’s boys.  Youngest son seemed to enjoy having Daddy to himself and having full control without oldest son around.

Meanwhile, at a campus not far away, oldest son had a wonderful day with Mommy.

He attended several “classes” including desktop publishing and radio/television but his favorite was the one taught by a paleontologist on how to dig up a dinosaur.  I’ve never seen oldest son so attentive.  He had his hands folded on the table, raised his hand, and didn’t complain when he didn’t get called on to answer.  He also got one question incorrect, but handled it in stride.

The professor was wonderful and oldest son was completely engaged.  As the professor unpacked his backpack, oldest son squirmed with excitement when the field guide was pulled out.  He took his own field guide out of his backpack.  I was very proud of him.  He was in his element and felt so accomplished to be able to answer all of the questions, yet he gave others a chance too.

There was a large fossil of a Coelophysis and the professor asked if anyone knew about the dinosaur.  Oldest son raised his hand and then shared that it was believed to be similar to a Velociraptor in size and behavior, it was bipedal, it was from the late Triassic, and it’s name means “hollow form”.  Several parents commented that he really knew his stuff and the professor was very gracious in allowing oldest son to share so much of his knowledge.

Oldest son wore his paleontologist outfit-khakis, shirt, vest.  It was the same outfit the professor was wearing.

I think that it was an awesome day for him, except for the discovery that most fossils are replicas.  He had a hard time  adjusting to the fossils being replicas, or not real.  But the professor explained how expensive actual fossils are to purchase.  Sue, the T-Rex, sold for $8,000,000.  I explained that we don’t have that kind of dough lying around.  I hope he finds a way to resolve this for himself.  I can’t do it for him.  I wish I could.

Oldest son seems to have taken a big step forward toward his goal of being a paleontologist.  Youngest son took a big step toward his independence without oldest son around to boss him.  Happy day!

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