MUD!

It's spring break time at my son's daycare center so they are in babysitting mode for their regular kids and the alumni who come back during school breaks so mom and dad can still work. They don't work on letters, numbers, reading, and the other "regular" stuff of his day. Instead they watch movies or have special visitors give presentations to the whole assembly.

Yesterday there was a presentation by an animal expert. She brought in pelts, skins, and a lot of knowledge. Did you know rhinoceros sweat is pink so they won't get burned by the sun? When the woman asked how do rhinos keep cool E's hand was the only one to go up. There were alumni there that were 6 or 7 years old and my 3 year old was the only one who knew the answer. "They roll in the mud." The presenter and all the teachers were amazed. When the director of the school told me about it I was so proud, but not all that amazed at his performance he had some clues before he got to school that day.

Clue #1. Last weekend E went to his first play ever. It was "Rikki Tikki Tavi and other Just So Stories" by Rudyard Kipling. Four actors presented 3 stories with multiple characters. They used elaborate wire hats to be the various animals in "The Elephant's Child", "How the Camel got it's Hump" and "Rikki Tikki Tavi". In the "The Elephant's Child" after she had a trunk the baby elephant shlooped up some mud and put it on her head to keep herself cool.

Clue #2. I am taking a children's writing course and one of my assignments is to read 25 picture books a week. E loves this assignment. In the book "The Perfect Name" Mama and Papa Potumus have to find the perfect name for their little one. At one point in the book little one is completely covered in mud. We read this book within the week of the presentation.

Clue #3. We woke up early yesterday. We decided we would go for a walk at the Schaumburg Park District's Volkening Farm. I wanted to go see the pigs, he wanted to see the horse, we both agreed we'd stop and see the chickens and turkeys. On the way we talked about pigs and mud and why they roll around in it.

The Park doesn't open until 8am and we were there a few minutes too early and couldn't get into the parking lot. We were on our way to a grocery store so we could get food for dinner when E yelled, "There's a park." I pulled the car over. We got out and took off down the paved walk way. There was very little to do but look at a lot of grass, it turned out to be a nine-whole disc (frisbee) golf course. We walked up a small hill and, being taller than a 3 year old, I saw the bright yellow of the playground equipment first. I made the exaggerated excited face and he begged me to let him in on the excitement. "Just wait," I said, "You'll see."

When we reached the crest he saw the playground too and the genuine excitement on his face was better than any act I could put on. We let go of each other's hands and ran to the playground our arms waving in the air like we were riding a rollercoaster, or like crazed lunatics. We climbed up the stairs and walked across the wiggly bridges they he rode down the tube slide and climbed back up to the top. He slid down the twisty slide and fell off the end. He called me to come down and instead of taking the stairs like an adult would I took the twisty slide. If there was ever a doubt whether dew was wet or whether it collected on plastic slides it ended on that ride.

E arrived at school that day with a wet butt and a head full of clues as to how a rhinoceros may keep cool. He's got a great memory and a real knack for making the connection between one animal and another, even from animals to humans. We have on tape an episode of "Zooboomafoo" a kid's show about animals on PBS. The hosts, Chris and Martin Kratt, talked about kangaroo's eyelashes keeping dust and sand out of the animal's eyes. One day, a week or so after seeing the episode, E was touching his eyelids at dinner. Then he announced that his eyelashes keep dust and sand out of his eyes. I asked who told him that. "Chris and Martin," he said matter-of-factly. I'm so proud of him and amazed by his memory.