Bulldozers, Aardvarks and Multiple Choice...

This morning I stumbled into the kitchen, hitting - in this order - the "start" button for the coffee maker, the "on" button for the TV, and the cat (with my foot, accidentally - but why would a white cat choose to sleep in the middle of a white kitchen floor? I have never understood that.). The weather forecast popped up on the news - record low temperatures, high wind advisory. Great. I put on a tea kettle to warm up water for the goats, steeling myself for my morning journey outside to feed, care for, and clean up after them. I really hate winter, and especially I hate winter with goats.

Think positive. There must be something good about being a goat mommy...at least they're interesting pets, always a conversation starter. After all, the best story I had pre-goat was, "My cat had a hairball today," or something like that. Except for the rare occasion when a feline is mauled by a mammoth rodent, cats (though delightful) are not that unusual. Pouring my coffee, I watched Megan prepare her breakfast of guacamole and sprouts on garlic toast and I mused how sometimes it's good to be different...

When Megan was entering first grade, she had to take a standardized placement test at school. Since she had taught herself to read at age four and has a near-photographic memory, I was confident she would score well and was eager to discuss her results when the teacher called me in for a conference. Imagine my horror when the teacher showed me her abysmal score - although Megan had answered the first few questions correctly, nearly every subsequent item was wrong. Tersely the teacher suggested a consult for learning support, as well as a thorough vision exam. I thought Megan had overcome the struggles related to her premature birth, but...Puzzled, I scanned the test, randomly reading question #8. Students were asked to pick the best object to use for eating soup - fork, spoon, saucer, or  - bulldozer?? What was she thinking? And the best choice for a birthday gift, over board game and bathing suit, she chose aardvark?  Really, Megan?

At home I plunked her on the couch and asked about the test. Had she been ill that day? Was the room too noisy? Something upsetting her?

"Oh, Mommy," she exclaimed, leaping up and twirling in a circle, "I hated that test. It was too easy and boring, so I decided to make a game out of it. I picked all the most interesting answers. That made it more fun."

Maybe today when I'm scooping up frozen goat droppings and painting antibiotic cream on their unmentionable regions, I'll try to make it into a game. Note to self, however - I do need to have a serious conversation with Megan before she takes her College Board SAT exam this spring!