shadow puppets and bubblegum

So I am preparing my lesson plan overview for the coming school year. We are starting a bit late this year due to a family trip next week. I will do the standardized testing this coming week, but wait for the "real" start of school until we get back.

The fact that I am only now getting around to the lesson plans might give you the hint that "procrastination" is more than just the title of my last entry. Have I mentioned before that my kids are raising two ADD parents? It's not just a tangent, trust me.

N's first lesson for his creative writing class has to do with paying attention to body communication. It discusses the fact that the body movements of children do not tend to match what they are saying or doing. Biting nails, fidgeting legs, picking scabs, staring into space - these are all things a child might be doing when they are supposed to be sitting still. N is supposed to observe the difference in body motions from children to adults. It mentions that adults usually have good control over their movements and are capable of sitting still for relatively long stretches.

Hmmmm.

In church this morning, you would have caught me passing notes. You see, my dear husband was purposefully instigating his children to try to make them fidget more so they would get in trouble. Cracking knuckles, scratching his fingernails loudly across the back of the seats, rustling the paper insert to the altoids as loudly as possible - these are a few of his favorite things.

I gave S a note which said, "Tell your father to behave himself."

Instead of saying it, he passed the note over.

The dh read the note then looked at me with mock seriousness and mouthed, "He's dead. My father's dead."

It's a good thing I am N's teacher, and I can grade the poor boy on a sliding scale.