School work, more 4-H and cleaning

Yesterday, Tyler took his Spelling pretest and got 17 out of 20 correct, so no test for him on Friday.  He was excited.  Spanish (which was actually a leftover from Tues that we didn’t get to) was really hard, even for me.  We were learning about “You” casual and formal, but there is only one version when it is plural; how they don’t really have a translation for “it”, like in “It is on the table.”; and how to conjugate verbs.  The verbs were just for the masculine, feminine, plurals and for use with you in the present tense.  They made a big deal about that so I’m going to assume that they conjugate differently for past and future tense as well.  We also were learning that some verbs are exceptions and totally change their spelling from the infinitive.  Not fair.  I’m really good at understanding the patterns, but not so good when it comes to the exceptions.

Then, because this is just the way that I am, I printed out the 2008 4-H Handbook for the regular 4-H (what Tyler will be in next year.)  Yes, there is a method to my madness.  See this 4-H is hugely different that what Trent did, so I can’t rely on him as my source for 4-H stuff.  So I must learn this stuff in order to explain it to Tyler.  The other reason is that it would be a really good idea for Tyler to take a look at the projects this year that he might be interested in doing next year so he has an idea of what is expected.  I don’t think next year he’s going to get away with spending 20 minutes on a model and that’s it.  Most projects also require experiments or logs that have to be put in a notebook that has to be turned in before the fair (like at the start of the month, so no waiting until the last minute either.)  He looked through it yesterday.  Here is the list of things that he is interested in: Aerospace Club, Fine Arts, Cake Decorating, Collections, Entomology, Fishing Club, Forestry, Geology, Home Environment, Junior Achievement Record Book, Models, Photography, Recycling, Rocket, Soil & Water Conservation, Veterinary Science, Wildlife, and Wood Science.  He has his eye on some others as well, but those start at a later age, like the Mission to Mars is for 5th graders and up.  He also wants to do some of the workshops that they have down at Purdue, but he’s going to have to wait for those until he’s in high school.  Trent & I are talking about limiting his number of projects to about 3 the first year so that he can get a feel for things without being overwhelmed by everything.  We also have to decide on a club to join for next year.  See he has to have a regular club where most projects are completed, then other things have their own clubs (like livestock, Aerospace, Fishing, etc) that you join, in addition to your regular club.  So during the fair this year we are going to look at all the projects for the list above and see which ones he is really interested in to start narrowing things down.

And now for cleaning.  Tyler’s toys have been sprawling again – he’s sure they do it on their own, and we’ve been letting him because some of the games he’s been designing take up a lot of space.  He has toys on the dining room table, in his room and spread out downstairs.  Yesterday I told him that he needs to pick up everything and have it put away nicely in the bins and cabinets before we go to MN.  His first response was, “why, the dog isn’t going to be here to mess with it.”  I want it all put away so that the house is clean and we come home to a clean house.  Second response was negotiation, “well, I’ll put it away except for x and y.”  No, it all has to be put away.  Third response was still negotiation, “then I’ll just take them to MN with us.”  No, it won’t all fit in the truck.  Response, “That’s not fair.”  You’re right, but that’s life.  So this morning he is trying to negotiate when he is actually going to do this cleaning because he knows I don’t want him waiting until the last minute.  So he suggests Mon and Tues.  I remind him that Mon he is going to be at the fair most of the day.  So he tells me that it is all my fault if it doesn’t get cleaned up since I agreed to let him go to the fair with his grandparents and cousins.  Nice try but there are plenty of other days when cleaning could take place.  Right now he’s supposedly trying to figure out what days those are while he makes more cards for some new game that he is designing.  I’m sure it is hard for him to decide since I’ve given him a week to do this and he knows he still wants to play with said toys some during this week as well.  But I do have to say that his negotiation skills are improving.  Before he would get too upset after the first response to go back and forth with me.  Now he is getting a little quicker on his feet.  I’m proud of him, but the toys will still be put away before we leave for MN.