The Garden School Tattler

There's a virus going around now that's got a lot of parent scared because the temperature that goes with it is a high one.

Trying to pinpoint where this is coming from is always difficult. We've had several children go home sick. It usually begins with either an upset stomach, a head ache, a sore throat, or fever.

Doctors are saying it's a virus, but some of them are giving out a prescription just in case.

You fuss and fume and wake up in the night wondering where it came from and how you can avoid it and you realize that it's impossible. We wash our hands, we spend a lot of time outside, and then you think, it's the pool.

I think a lot of children respond to summer differently. Lots of kids are kept out late because it's so beautiful and the light is workable until way past their bedtimes parents loath being in the house and kids resist a light bedroom when everyone else is just "beginning to play."

Too bad the morning hours can't be pushed back as well, because with too little sleep, and too much activity during the day, and then not enough sleep again, illness can rear it's ugly head.

One of the interesting things about summer is appetite. Even Jack is eating two sandwiches at the pool. We can't make sandwiches fast enough. I can't thank Miss Kelly enough for her splendid idea about making sandwiches on the spot, and the cold storage thing she discovered from Pampered Chef that actually keeps the salads freezing cold.

We used to make dozens of sandwiches in the morning and drag them along. Now it's made on the spot at the picnic and the kids are eating twice as much. When a child begins to eat, he can't stop. We are going through everything we are taking - there are no leftovers and no waste. I keep adding eggs, tuna, bread, cookies, and fruit, but it's still gone, gone, gone, and that's a good thing. Eat! After a dozen eggs, 4 cans of tuna, 6 loaves of bread, a 1/2 pound of ham, bologna and cheese, a double batch of cookies, carrots and dip, and three packages of potato chips, the kids ate a whole watermelon.

Friday is one of my favorite trips because it's a real adventure followed by play. A field trip is not a real field trip without discovery, without learning and without seeing something new and actually going someplace. If I had my way and the bank account to match ... look out.

So on Friday we are going to a cave and then to swim at the Hollow. We're wearing suits and taking clothes so the kids are comfortable on the way home. We might be late - 3:00 ish? It depends on how much they like the beach.

I taught a class at the junior high downtown EVV. I taught culture and poetry, and after the occasion of fumbling through the class, I can say I'm glad I teach little kids. The big kids were bigger than I am and they were about as interested in culture and poetry as they were carding wool. I wish I had met the class first. I would have done something different. The hardest part was trying to keep their attention. They say that good preschool will help children avoid the boredom rut of big school. Then that's the goal.

I've written to the governor about our school. I invited him for lunch. I'll let you know if he accepts.

I posted a picture of the new baby.