Maps and Geo Bees
{ IKEA world map }
I have maps on the brain these days. It started when both Will and Lexie made it through the first two rounds in the National Geographic Bees at their respective schools. We got to watch Will answer some highly challenging questions in the final oral round to become the school champion. Today, as his reward (!), he got to take a 70-question test to try to qualify for the state competition. I asked him how it went. “It was difficult,” he said. “But I liked it.”
Meanwhile, Lexie tied for third place today at the middle school. She missed a question about a location that no one could pronounce. Kind of a bummer, but what can you do? There’s probably a valuable life lesson in there about things not always being fair in life. The girl who won really knew her stuff, so all’s well that ends well.
A few years ago, Andrew made it to the state competition in Madison and tied with a bunch of other kids for 11th place. I remember all of us parents in the audience looking at each other, like, these questions are hard.
Thanks for letting me ramble on about this. I’m proud of them and I love maps, so it’s a fun combination. My kids like maps, but I think it’s all the reading they do that helps them at the bees.
If you have a map lover in your life, here’s a great gift idea: The Global Puzzle. Will’s teacher was kind enough to lend us his to work on over Christmas break. The puzzle even has country-shaped pieces.
I have my eye on the giant map that I spotted on a recent trip to IKEA. It’s huge—six feet by four or so—and not cheap ($149), but I think it would look cool and be so inspiring on a wall in our someday-to-be-finished basement.
[Do you remember Stephen Wright? I tried out an old joke of his on the kids: “I have a map of the world. It’s life-size.” It took a second, but they got it.]
Snowman Gum
There’s so much to talk about and an entire year to plan for and think about, but before launching into any of that I have to show you the Snowman Gum. A young lady in Will’s class gave these to everyone for Christmas and I think they’re the cutest things ever. We only had time to make a few for the cousins this year, but next year we have plans to make them for Lily’s classmates and other friends, too.
Somehow, Tim knew that Dentyne Ice in the black package is the right kind of gum to use. I tried different types of pens and found that Sharpies are the only ones whose ink doesn’t disappear off the plastic.
If you want to put tags on, you just need something very small. I cut the one in the photo out of white paper. If you like the look of baker’s twine, you can pick some up at a craft store (I’ve seen it at Michaels) or Target. I bought baker’s twine last year from The Twinery during an after-Christmas sale.
Of course, this opens up the possibility of putting faces on gum—or any packaging—for all the holidays. Hearts for Valentine’s Day. Shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. Pumpkins for Halloween. I’d better buy more gum!
Did you see anything during the holidays that made you say, “I have to make that next year?”
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! How have you been? Did you enjoy the holidays? Were they crazy? Relaxing? A little of both?
Ours included the usual craziness (when will I learn to start shopping earlier?), but we found time to relax, too. The biggest hit for us this year was the ice rink that Tim made. He spent hours and hours leveling the ground and building up layers of ice until he’d created an amazing little rink. We spent much of the kids’ vacation on the ice, enjoying the snowflakes that seemed to appear whenever we skated.
Are you excited for 2013? I love the clean slate of a new year. And I’m happy to get back to blogging. I had this idea back in October that I’d be strict with myself and only blog if I a) wrote 1,000 words or b) sent out submissions. Well. It turns out that taking away blogging was not a good incentive. I missed everyone, and I also realized how much this little blog helps me focus on what I’d like to matter in life.
So I hope you’ll forgive my absence and lack of communication all these weeks. I never thought so much time would go by—and so quickly!
Mug of Wisdom #39 / Bertha Damon
