The other day, Mr Hubs was downstairs with the girls and somehow he got on the topic of constellations and planets and such, and so began an impromptu science lesson for Miss Dainty. When I came downstairs, I could hear Baby D yelling about something or other, and Mr Hubs looked at me and said, "I have no idea how you teach Miss Dainty anything..." I smiled knowingly. Yeah... it's a challenge. One that I need to figure out in the next few weeks, but that's another blog post.
I took the baby and entertained her while Mr Hubs continued showing Miss Dainty videos and pictures online which fascinated her. They ran across a chapter in her book of constellations about a yearly meteor shower, and both were so excited to read that it would be happening this week. Miss Dainty jumped up and down about her daddy's promise of waking her in the middle of the night and the possibility of seeing a meteor shower.
After researching a bit, we knew it might be tough to see this particular meteor shower. The peak was supposed to take place between 3 PM Monday and sometime this morning (now I've forgotten.) Regardless, it was a pretty big time frame, with basically no guarantee we would catch it.
So, last night, we went out around 8 pm to check and see if we could see anything. Turns out, the area was not viewable from our house. Miss Dainty was disappointed, but we promised her we'd check in the morning and wake her if we saw something.
This morning, around 5:30 am, Mr Hubs' alarm went off and he asked me if I was going to go outside. "Yeah, if you see anything," I answered. He laughed and went out.
In about two minutes he ran back inside, "I saw two already, come on!" He went and grabbed Miss Dainty while I got out of bed. I hope we see something, I thought, because this is crazy. It's freezing outside and it's 5:30 AM!!!
We stood out in our side yard probably looking a bit ridiculous with our robes and blankets and scarves, staring up at the sky. "We're that family," Mr Hubs said.
"Yep," was my answer, but I laughed because that thought made me happy. We stared and stared and tried to hush Miss Dainty who was talking too loud. We looked and looked and waited and waited. And then we saw it. A star suddenly appeared and dashed for a distance leaving it's long trail, only to disappear. In that short time frame, I pointed and we all said something about it simultaneously, all of us so excited to see one. Miss Dainty was excited the most. It was, after all, her very first "shooting star."
We waited some more, hoping to see another one or two, but clouds were moving in and the cold was getting to us. "A few more minutes," Mr Hubs told Miss Dainty. Then the clouds completely covered where we were supposed to be looking and so we went back inside. I put Miss Dainty back to bed, and she was so happy even to see just one meteor.
In the end, the best part was that Mr Hubs was able to experience a homeschooling journey that was all his and Miss Dainty's alone: from Miss Dainty's spark of interest about stars to them reading books and watching videos online together, to discovering the meteor shower, and putting the effort into viewing it, and finally seeing a meteor.
It was so neat and rewarding. I think we will gladly be that family as often as necessary to have more experiences like that one.
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