Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Weird Science





I spent my Monday at the kids' school running around like a mad scientist.

No really, lab coat, goggles, the whole shebang.

Melanie and I took on the mammoth task of organizing a Science Fair at our elementary school, partially because our school has never had anything like it before, partially because Mel and the Rizz are both local high school science teachers and partially because we are insane.

We had organized a Science Night back in January that went off beautifully, except for that part about ticking off the administration and being ignored for the following weeks, but we had felt good about what we had done. That was phase one of our Science Takes Over The World master plan. The Science Fair is phase II. It's the phase that may kill us both.

We were able to resolve our differences with the powers that be and now have nothing but support in moving forward. We were given the opportunity to hold not one but two! assemblies for the students to dole out all the information they needed to have a successful science fair project. As our school houses some 900+ students, the idea was slightly daunting but luckily, Melanie and I are off balanced just enough not to let it bother us.

We blasted "Weird Science" from the speakers as the kids filed in.

We introduced ourselves as Scientist Mel and Scientist Karen.

We rocked full fledged lab coats and goggles that may or may not have been lined with rhinestones.

We screamed "Data!" at the top of our lungs.

We made fools of ourselves. And we loved it.

But not as much as our kids.

In the morning assembly, Melanie's sweet son Aidan looked like he was going to burst with pride that his mama was running the show. And our girls, who share the same teacher and are BFFs through and through, waved at us like mad during the second assembly. They made us laugh, and feel good about looking so foolish, and most importantly, reminded us why we do these things time and time again.

And that's the part that matters, right? The looking foolish, the frantic emails and planning, the stress over making sure every. single. detail. has been thought about and worried over? If it shows our kids that we'll go above and beyond for them, no matter what, it's worth it.

And I'm so lucky to have such a mad scientist by my side. Thanks Mel.

5 comments:

Kate said...

gabe is a bit of a mad scientist himself...so you should have seen/heard his excitment of a science fair that he could participate in! He hasn't stopped talking about.....no joke.
So thank you for being nuts and taking this on....whether it is a part of your master plan or to put a smile on the kids faces...doesn't matter...all I know is that everyone is going to see Gabe in all his geekiness next month! lol.

tharker said...

You two are amazing. Period.

P.S.
Hannah is SO excited for this Science Fair!! Thank you!

maile said...

love it!

Melanie said...

I love that picture/quote!
and I love the way you write!
and I love that you were my partner in all of this chaos!
and I love the day we had and the smiles we saw!!!

Thank you Karen for all that you do!

Kelly said...

I so wish I could have seen you up there, you are such an awesome mom!