Monday, May 08, 2006

within which I consider an advanced education

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. I thought I was prepared for this. Really. Parenting was not supposed to be too terribly hard. After all, billions of people do it, many without ANY formal education whatsoever, most of them without so much as banging their heads against the wall more than, say, nine or ten times. A week. Oh, wait—that statistic is only for my household. But I digress.

The truth is, I have an advanced degree. I have TWO even. To review my resume, one would draw the conclusion that I would be more than competent to raise two small, albeit intense, children. Let’s review:
Master’s Degree in Counseling: check
Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy: check
Over 50 credit hours in Childhood Development: check
TAUGHT Childhood Development: check
Specialized training in Sexual Abuse Prevention: check
TAUGHT Sexual Abuse Prevention: check
Parenting classes: check
TAUGHT parenting classes: check
Lamaze, Breastfeeding, Infant Care: check
BioChemistry: um…
Nuclear Physics: well…
Biology: oh crap.
Physiology: you’ve got to be kidding!

It was about two weeks ago when these gaps in my curriculum vitae started to become apparent. The conversation went something like this:

My Son: Mom, what are trees made out of?
Me: Trees are made out of wood.
Son: Mom, what is wood made out of?
Me: (Tentatively.) Um, it’s made out of, um, well, wood.
Son: Mom, what is wood made out of?
Me: (Trying again.) Wood is made out of water and seeds.
Son: Mom, what is water made out of?
Me: (With newfound confidence.) Oxygen and Hydrogen!
Son: Mom, what is oxygen made out of?
Me: (Pause.) Itself?
Son: Mom, what is oxygen made out of?
Me: (Tersely.) Atoms.
Son: Mom, what are atoms made out of?
Me: (LONG pause.)
Poppa: (After laughing at me for long enough.) Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons.
Son: Dad, what are pow-tons, new-tons, and lect-tons made out of?
Poppa: (Smugly, in a scientific tone.) Quarks.

Quarks? What the heck? But somehow, it all comes back to Quarks, and I don’t mean the Ferengi Bartender in replicate. To date, I’ve been asked to break down cars, trees, people, rocks, dirt, and airplanes, to name but a few. Now, I’ll be frank. I’m not qualified to teach science, not even to a three-year-old. Normally a straight-A student, I squeaked by with a D in Freshman Biology, a C in Sophomore Chemistry, and, having fulfilled my science requirements, was mercifully allowed to skip out of Physics and Physiology. Aside from taking Astronomy in college (truly a What was I thinking? moment) to meet yet another stupid requirement, I have no further experience in the sciences to round out my parenting qualifications.

I’m screwed. Worse yet, so is my son.

Anyone know of a good science program? Or, better yet, have a Science For Dummies book I can borrow?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats to funny!
i have an anatomy and physiology book, you more than welcome to borrrow
angela

Anonymous said...

LOL!! that is too funny...no books to offer..i'd much rather watch you wing it through his teenage years...it makes for much funnier writing!!! HA!
michaela

lorie said...

Angela- will it tell me what quarks are?

Michaela- so glad to be able to promise you years of entertainment to come!

Anonymous said...

oh yes....quarks and a lot more for the down the road....into adolescence....overall, I personally think the textbook is a great read.

lorie said...

I'll take it!

Anonymous said...

okay! I am pretty sure the "quarks" are made up enegry. There are diffrent types of enegry though.
But, the text book will explain all that for you.
angela

Sam said...

Oh that was the funniest thing I've read in a while.
good job on the science for the grades you got. I being in freshman science confidanly say you got everything right...the protons neutrons and elecktrons that is.
Oh and it gets easier. I'm pretty sure kids quit asking those questions around 10 or so. Not that it's non stop until then.
I'll pray for you. :)

lorie said...

But see, Sam, the problem is that by 10 the questions will be HARDER!!! If I can't answer his 3-yr-old questions, what will I do THEN?!?

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia.com they are fabulous! If they are curious that's a good thing, yes? If yu have to know all the answers you might burn out early. I have my favorite answers, 'I don't know', and 'let's look it up!'

Juls