8/14/2007

Simply Smile

For lunch the children and I had fish sticks and macaroni and cheese, the really creamy kind. It happens to be one of my favorite lunches and has been for as long as I can remember. Thankfully, the children like it, too. As simple as it sounds fish sticks and mac-n-cheese brightens my day pretty much every time.

I also like my friend Jessica. I know that looks like a wild transition, but it isn’t. Jessica also likes fish sticks and macaroni and cheese, and I rarely have them without thinking of her. Right now, life makes it hard for us to get together. She doesn’t live too far away, but she works outside her home, and her extra time goes to her magnificent son Josh. Right now, life is just a bit too busy to drive over an hour for a lunch of fish sticks. She’s there, and I’m here, and when we need each other, we know where to look.

Before lunch, the children and I did some science. I love doing science with the children. Today’s experiments were ones they had done before, but they always add a new twist.

First, we mixed 1 cup rubbing alcohol with 1 cup water to show that alcohol fills up the space between the water molecules. In theory, we were supposed to add 1 and 1 and get less than 2. In reality, the children thought the 2 cups of liquid with the swirling blue food coloring looked way cool. I explained the molecule idea, and then we talked about what made the food coloring swirl.

Next, we used salt to make eggs float in water. We found out that sea salt and regular salt both make eggs float. Then Robert decided we needed to find out if it the eggs floated because of the air pockets in their shells, so we broke his egg and my egg, which was in plain water. Mine still sank, and his still floated. Cheers of excited exploration echoed in my kitchen.

Why do I share all this daily mundane stuff with you? Because it isn’t mundane to me. Yes, it is simple, but it puts a smile on my face, and life is always made better when we simply smile.

(Oh, Jessica, I ate your share of lunch. It was delicious. Just didn’t want you to think it went to waste. )

1 comment:

Danica Favorite said...

Jerri, how wonderful! Your friend reminds me of my best friend, who's in a similar situation. It's amazing to see the little things that remind you of a special relationship. (Ours is tea)