You know that moment? The one when your child blows your mind, again… and you think, “Really, God? Am I REALLY the right one for this job?”
—
This weekend Cody took me on a fabulous two-night stay to Las Vegas. It was our first getaway together since before we had kids. (No, a “babymoon” when super pregnant with each child does NOT count as a true vacation with my sweetheart!) And we had a wonderful time. We did Vegas right. We went to our favorite History Channel reality show stops (Gold & Silver Pawn and Count’s Kustoms), we spent time at various resorts along the Strip, went to do the Freemont Street Experience, spent a about $20 in some slot machines, and yes, we even renewed our vows in a service performed by none other than Elvis himself. It was a wonderful weekend. And then we came home. Which was wonderful, too. The kids were happy to see us, and it was great to sleep in our own bed again (although that bed at the MGM Grand was as close to perfect as I have slept in at a hotel in a very long time).
But then this morning came. And reality dawned. The two hour time difference smacked me in the face and coffee just wasn’t enough. After dragging the kids through a grocery shopping trip that was simply exhausting for all three of us (each in different ways and for different reasons), we finally checked out and got into the car. And that’s when it happened. That moment came.
Becca opened her mouth.
And out flowed the most amazingly long run-on sentence with no breath taken in between that I had ever heard. Basically, she wanted to learn EVERYTHING there is to know about giraffes IMMEDIATELY upon arrival to the house. I convinced her that we could wait until after nap time, and Mommy would be more prepared. (Aka – Mommy could be prepared at all because I have ZERO clue where this sudden interest in knowing EVERYTHING about giraffes came from, and of course had nothing printed about giraffes.) So, instead of slamming my head repeatedly on the steering wheel (as I wanted to do), I calmly drove home, wondering, as mentioned above, how I could possibly be the right parent for this amazing child.
So, I somehow got the groceries unloaded, kids into rooms for play time, groceries put away, and then sat down to my computer to do a little work… and to find something, ANYTHING on giraffes. Because with Becca, there is no hoping that she’ll forget. Nope, I said I’d have it after nap time, so I’d better have it after nap time or I’ll have a sad scientist on my hands.
This is where Teachers Pay Teachers came in handy once again, for the bazillionth time. I swear, I can always find just what I need on there – and this time each of the activities I got was free. So I’m linking to them below for you – the creators have information about his/her products inside the files themselves. And then I felt like I needed one more activity that would be a little bit more hands-on, so I created a cut and paste alphabetical order worksheet, which I’m also attaching below (for free!).
As soon as she got up, the first question she asked was “when can we start learning about giraffes?” So I got her some lunch and when she was done, we sat down to begin. She read the information sheets and answered the questions (I write her answers for her as she dictates them to me), and then she did the alphabetical order sheet, which she loved… and anytime I can get her to practice cutting it’s a good thing! When we finished (about ten minutes later), I set her up to watch the Wild Kratts episode about giraffes, and she was super content. When her daddy came home, she showed him her work sheets and told him everything she had learned about giraffes, and was so proud of all she had learned.
Whew. Mommy saved the day. Again. Barely. So, if you have a child who is super into giraffes, there are some fun (and FREE) activities here. Or, if you have a child who spontaneously spouts out things they want to learn about, check out Teachers Pay Teachers and search under the free stuff – you never know what treasures you’ll find! 🙂
Links to FREE printables about giraffes:
Graphic Organizers – with non-fiction Giraffe text 
Giraffe Alphabetical Order cut and paste worksheet
Reading Comprehension Giraffes worksheet
Butterbees and Bumbleflies 