Kelly Gibbons, artist and writer, about me

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Cele-a-brate good times, come on!

OK, I admit it, I was a junior high cheerleader in the late seventies, so every time I think about celebrating, that song goes through my head with visions of the pom-pom "snake" my squad created for our routine. It was sad, but back then I thought I was pretty cool--not cool enough to make the High School team though. Ah, but that is another issue.

I'm celebrating today because the Science Fair is officially over today! I hated the Science Fair when I had to participate and hate it even more as a parent. For God's Sake why do they make them do this. My daughter's have been stressing over these projects since January. Or maybe it has been me stressing over the fact that they have been procrastinating since February.

Today, however, is the end. Today they will be judged. Today I celebrate. No more tri-folds, no more fights with the printer as we try to print 17 copies of the bloody report as the bus comes down the street. Does the science teacher, English teacher, each judge and the custodian really each need their own copy of my daughter's brilliant research on which type of hockey stick hits the ball harder? They will be too busy building their own hydroponic growing station to care about that. I should warn them up front that it is just a quicker way to kill plants. But, hey, we had to learn for ourselves, so they are on their own. We have contributed to the economy so no it is their turn.

Really what did the girls learn through all this. Kelci knows that growing plants in soil is better. Yes, this is something new to her because all the plants grown in soil around here die quickly. Michelle learned that if you do all your research pictures in one night, you have to change your clothes half way through so it looks like you did it on different days. And also that you can crop flowers out of pictures with photoshop. A great trick since the project should have been done when there weren't any in bloom. They both learned that the $3.00 tri-folds are just as good as the $12.00 ones and that practicing a speech can be almost as traumatic as actually giving one.

Here's some questions I still have:

Why did my daughter choose to compare field hockey sticks? She is not going to buy one based on this research, she will buy the one everyone else has with the most expensive price tag.

Why did we have to buy the more expensive pink gravel for Kelci's project if she didn't actually have to bring the thing to school?
It did brighten up the basement, but honestly, I could have just changed the rock colors (photoshop again) for the pictures to say a few bucks.

What are we going to do with the 3 foot high tri-folds after today?
I already have enough of them stored in the attic and I have no younger children to pass them down too--besides the same teacher's will still be there in 20 years so they can't be re-used. Maybe I can sell them on eBay (they say anything sells there).

How long are the remains of these projects going to sit in my family room and on my deck?
My guess is until I trip over one of them again, lose my temper and throw it across the yard!

If this project really doesn't matter, why have my daughter's worried about it for the last week and taken two days to pick the right outfit for the presentation?
Oh my God...are high school boys going to judge this thing?

posted by Kelly @ 5/06/2004 07:45:00 AM

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