Everything I needed to know....

Everything I needed to know... I learned from my kids! Just now Jackson exclaimed, "I get it - a 'W' is upside down and an 'M' is right-side up!" Just as I was absorbing that thought, Ethan comes along and asks if a koala bear is a 'bear' or a 'marsupium'? Thankfully my neighbour was on the phone at the time and could tell me what that term meant! So... like we do these days, (to gain knowledge) I went on-line and looked up the word MARSUPIAL: the young are born in an immature state and continue development in the MARSUPIUM - includes opossums, bandicoots, koala, wombats & kangaroos! So people... if you always thought the kangaroo just has a pouch, it's really called a marsupium & that I guess answers our koala bear question too! Jeepers!

The other morning before school, Ethan was asking about Manta Rays & "are they like Sting Rays? Can you look it up on the computer, mom?" So with 5 minutes to spare, we checked into Manta Rays! They are the largest of the rays, with the largest known specimen being 25 ft (7.6 m) across and weighing about 5,000 lbs. (2,300 kg). They live in the tropical seas of the world, typically around coral reefs & are fond of swimming with scuba divers! Their predators incude large sharks and occasionally orcas. Miles asked me what they eat and I told him they live in the coral reef but I don't know? Ethan pipes up and says, "plankton - they eat plankton!" So today, when I checked into this again, to make sure my facts were accurate - sure enough they are filter feeders and eat plankton, fish larvae and the like! They have a short tail & no stinging spine.

Earlier today, he asked if I could 'look up' Golden Eagle Ray - I thought the name sounded a bit far fetched but here's what I can enlighten you on: they are a powerful free swimming tropical ray, noted for 'soaring' by flapping wing-like fins; usually harmless but has some venomous tissue near the base of it's tail as in stingrays! We watched a 'YouTube' video of it swimming, and it honestly looks like an eagle soaring through the sky! Amazing!

If anyone's ever watched the tv show "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader" ...well I don't think I'm smarter than a First Grader!!!! By the time Baby Cole is finished Grade 12 - I can only imagine how much knowledge I will have gained! Ethan brought his report card home yesterday and seems to be doing well, so we were pleased! Had a few chuckles at some of the comments though.... only our Ethan!
PS: I dare you to ask me about penguins!!!!!!!!!!!