Mom's Will Cheat For Their Kids...I DID!!

My daughter has a science project that is due on December 5th.

If you have read my previous posts, it is with a girl in her class that I have sort of taken under my already full wing.

I pick her up every week and bring her to my house to chart the progress in their project.

They were to plant a seed in two pots on the same day, in two different types of soil and chart the difference in the growth and advancement of each pot.

Their first mistake was for them to let me go buy the "seed" .

I went to Walmart and chose something that was to be planted in the Fall (DUH...It IS Fall).

After four weeks of no activity from either plant, I mentioned to a co worker what I had bought for the girls to grow.

I had bought a bulb..to be planted in the Fall...and it would bloom in the Spring.

CRAP!!!

I immediately went to the landscaping and garden store that is right down the road from my house. I told them my dilemma and asked how at this four week time period of being into the project could I produce SOMETHING by December 5th?

The man suggested red leaf lettuce. It comes up through the soil after seven days, and he had pods of it that had already broken the soil, and I could take it home and put it in the pots and the girls could chart the changes and advancement until the due date of the project.

I don't like to lie, but I will write a term paper or do a project in a pinch to help my kids (no wonder they love me).

I took the lettuce sprouts home and went to the school to pick up my daughter from chorus practice.

When she and (of course) a friend jumped into my car, I said "Has your teacher been checking your composition notebook about the plant project"?

Of course to my dismay, she had been reading it every day and already knew that Massey was growing (or trying) to grow a Hyacinth.

I went home to dig up my useless bulbs and replace them with the lettuce plugs.

But as I reached through the dirt, the bulb seemed to "stick" in the dirt. I turned the pot over and believe it or not...roots were sprouting out of the drainage hole.

I immediately called in the troops.

A dear friend of mine from upstate New York...said that bulbs could be "forced".

I had never heard this term, but it sounded encouraging to me.

She suggested a grow light.

Off to Walmart I went.

I bought a grow light that would probably grow a kilo of pot, and installed it over my kitchen sink. I bought a grow light for the inset bulb that is over my kitchen table and another grow light for the lamp that is on top of my microwave.

I dared anyone in the house to turn off or unplug any of the "purple" lights that are now glowing in my kitchen...my girl's plants need all the help that they can get.

My neighbor is going to bring me a "bloom enhancer" tomorrow..whatever THAT is.

Pray for me that by December 5th...I have some kind of results to show.

I feel horrible that I have screwed the project up for them...but I have spent $58 on trying to not only rectify my mistakes but speed up their route to a successful outcome and grade.

The BAD thing is that she is only thirteen... Do you REALLY think it is going to get BETTER from this point on ????

At least I really made some GOOD treats for the "Teacher's Feast" tomorrow at the middle school... maybe it will all be okay.

At least I have given it my best shot.

Some parents don't even seem to care...

At least I worry what people think about me as a parent...and I worry even more what my kids think about me as a MOM.

Their future thoughts will probably be "How can I take her with me when I go" and "Why doesn't Dad realize how lucky he REALLY is"?? (He does...he just likes to yank my chain too..and knows how to rile me up...maybe he likes the "Firecracker" in me!!

At least when all that DOES happen...they will all be bearing grandkids that I can't wait to spoil rotten and can't wait to tell all of these stories to.