Heidi <[email protected]>

Hey

We've been exploring the solar system the past week or so. Got a
bunch of books on all the planets, out of the library, and in one of
them was an idea: Make a model of the solar system with the sun on
one wall, and the planets placed where they "would be" in your model.
We tried to do both the sizes and the distances of the sun and
planets to scale, but we'd have had Pluto across the street, which
sort of blew everyone's mind, OR Jupiter and Saturn's girth would
have had them overlapping. So, we made some guesstimates and some
adjustments, and stuck our planets on the ceiling. Sun on the dining
room sliding glass door drape. Seven foot sun, btw.

So, the planets are up on the ceiling, and I'm getting dinner
together, and Robby is pretending to be on the various planets.
Suddenly he says "I'm on Uranus" and I totally lost it! You know, he
pronounced it Your Anus LOL and it was just too silly. We all were
laughing our heads off, as the food is making its way to the table.
Then he changes his voice and says "Now I'm on Jupiter and this is
what I sound like! You want to hear Uranus?" same pronunciation.
Well, I couldn't resist "No, I don't want to hear from my anus, thank
you very much." My hubby made a fart noise...

Um, is this a typical unschooling moment? LOL

But you know what? All that free-flowing language set us up for some
amazing dinner time conversation. I did insist we drop the "anus"
stuff at the dinner table, though! L But that got us talking about
what that planet is named after, if not a Roman God, and what each
planet's god stood for, and then Holst's "The Planets" into the tape
deck, and Abbie, who knows a lot of Greek mythology, mentioned the
rape of Europa and now the kids know that Zeus made himself into a
bull to kidnap Europa.
We tried to figure out if Holst got it right. Does that sound
warlike? Is Jupiter's music happy and grand and jovial and kinglike?
Is Mercury fast music, and Venus sexy music?

Robby, when he got up to get the salad dressing, had to change it
from Plutonian salad dressing, into "human salad dressing." which,
when applied to potato skins, was another hilarious side-trek. Flayed
potatoes, we called them. and then it was "Flays Potato Chips. Bet
can't eat just one"

Robby acted like an alien off and on the rest of the night, and I
went to bed early! what a day, what a night.

peace, heidi

[email protected]

"Now I'm on Jupiter and this is
what I sound like! You want to hear Uranus?" same pronunciation.
Well, I couldn't resist "No, I don't want to hear from my anus, thank
you very much." My hubby made a fart noise...>>

<<Um, is this a typical unschooling moment? LOL>>

The best kind! People were laughing and smiling and being glad they were in
the same place together. How many families get that? You were building
memories. What if the planets remind them of their mom and dad for the rest
of their lives?

Holly told me about this episode of Futerama. I missed it, but I've found
the pertinent dialog with google.com:



About the "smelloscope" :

Fry: "Hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus." *laughs*

Leela: "I don't get it."

Professor: "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end
that stupid joke once and for all."

Fry: "Oh. What's it called now?"

Professor: "Urectum. Here, let me locate it for you."

Fry: "Hehe, no, no, I think I'll just smell around a bit over here."