What I did over my summer vacation

Sorry that I've been so woefully negligent to my reader(s). I've had several blog topics running through my head and half-way written, but they sounded kind of angry or a little too snarky.

Here's my one bit of snark, and the reason for this title. My older son started in a new school this year, with his class moving to the high school. The principal came out and did a quick, informal survey. He asked how many kids had read a book over the summer. That's a good question, I thought. Next question, "How many of you know the name of our high school mascot?" Ok, I thought, building a little school unity or community. Nothing wrong with that. Next question, "Who does our high school team play in football this friday?" I guess some of the kids with older siblings would be more tuned into that, if they played football or went to the games regularly. And finally, "Who do the Vikings play this weekend?"

That's when I had an internal tantrum. Can I ask my own questions now? Like, how many of you visited a museum over the summer? Who knows the capital of France? Who's been to a foreign country over the summer? Who is Barack Obama's running mate and name one of the things they would do if they were elected into office?

My second grader can answer that last question. He's always stumping for Obama, and was telling the woman cutting his hair the other day that Barack Obama would get us out of the war in Iraq. Oh yeah, and he knows Joe Biden is his running mate. I don't dare bring up Sarah Palin right now in the whole VP discussion about McCain, because I'm not ready to do another sex ed talk.

So, on the whole, our family had an awesome summer. We probably visited a half a dozen different museums, traveled to North Carolina, Washington state, Vancouver and Chicago. We would have liked to have done more (any) camping, but we'll get a little bit of that this weekend with friends. Next year, a boundary waters trip, or some backpacking will definitely have to be in the cards. But since my kids don't know who the Vikings or our high school football team are playing this weekend, I'm not doing a very good job as a parent. I'll get over it.

P.S. I would have written this about 4 or 5 days sooner, but I've been too busy cruising the internet, reading the drip, drip, drip of Sarah Palin scandals and incompetencies. Time to pop the popcorn and watch the show.