Why Starfish are Cool

One of the things I love the best about our neighborhood is that there are lots of neighbors for the girl to play with. Its really a blessing. What is so nice about is that for the most part the parents are on the same page about what is okay and what is not okay and everyone is fairly free with children coming and going. The average age being 9, you can give a bit of freedom with them. You never know who is going to be over. If the girl is not in our house I know she is either in the back field, out in the street in front, in B's house or in Holly's house. Its a beautiful thing.

The other day I got up from a nap and found J and K industriously poking on the computer. When I asked what they were doing they looked up and replied, "Writing a report....on starfish. We are making a powerpoint."

Oh my...I was wondering if I should worry that they are being too nerdy or celebrate the fact that they are pursuing knowledge based on desire to know more. Im thinking the first one, but Im saying its the second if for nothing else than to make myself feel better.

What IS precious to me though is that desire to find stuff out just because youre interested in it. Its that concept of being a "life long learner". When kids are very young that is a huge motivator for education....EVERYTHING is a discovery and its always so exciting to learn more about whatever it is they are interested in. (think of kindergardeners) That excitement tends to wane here in the tween and teen years, but I hope the girl holds onto it to some extent.

They were so sweet and so into what they were doing I took the pics below. I think the girl was dictating what they had written so J could put it in Power point format.

Funniest part? When I asked the girl if she would help me out a minute and sweep the walk because we had some guests coming over J answered for her and said, "We really cant, we are trying to get this done before the deadline."

Oh my....