400 New Pets
On Friday afternoon, I received an email from LM's teacher. Mrs. B. wanted to know if it would be okay if LM brought home some "specimen" they had been looking at in science class with their microscopes. Knowing how excited LM had been about the volvox arriving in his classroom earlier in the week, I knew he would be estatic to bring the little single-celled organisms home to view on his own and granted permission without hesitation.
LM arrived home with a tiny little vial with little green specs inside and proclaimed himself the proud owner of approximately 400 new 'pets'. He carried the vial around with him from room to room, looking at it under the lights, tipping it this way and that to see the little green dots swimming around. There was no need for the gifts I had placed under the tree, he was already over the moon with this gift from his teacher.
As Sunday night bedtime rolled around, LM came out of his room fighting back tears. I pulled him next to me on the couch and asked what was the matter. "I'm afraid the volvox are dying" he sobbed. He thought the house might be too cold, or maybe they weren't getting enough sunlight, but he was certain they shouldn't be at the bottom of the vial like they were. We moved the vial under a lamp on his dresser and we googled "how to care for volvox" to find the appropriate temperature (although I did stress I wasn't raising the thermostat for 400 micro-organisms.) I suggested he ask his teacher tomorrow if she knew how to care for them. He said he hoped tomorrow was the last day they were looking at the volvox in science because Mrs. B. had said he could bring more home if no one else in his class wanted them. He was hoping to bring home another vial of tiny green dots.
I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight and checked on the tiny vial under his reading lamp. These 400 micro-organisms don't even have a brain or a heart to know how much this little ten year old boy loves them.
LM arrived home with a tiny little vial with little green specs inside and proclaimed himself the proud owner of approximately 400 new 'pets'. He carried the vial around with him from room to room, looking at it under the lights, tipping it this way and that to see the little green dots swimming around. There was no need for the gifts I had placed under the tree, he was already over the moon with this gift from his teacher.
As Sunday night bedtime rolled around, LM came out of his room fighting back tears. I pulled him next to me on the couch and asked what was the matter. "I'm afraid the volvox are dying" he sobbed. He thought the house might be too cold, or maybe they weren't getting enough sunlight, but he was certain they shouldn't be at the bottom of the vial like they were. We moved the vial under a lamp on his dresser and we googled "how to care for volvox" to find the appropriate temperature (although I did stress I wasn't raising the thermostat for 400 micro-organisms.) I suggested he ask his teacher tomorrow if she knew how to care for them. He said he hoped tomorrow was the last day they were looking at the volvox in science because Mrs. B. had said he could bring more home if no one else in his class wanted them. He was hoping to bring home another vial of tiny green dots.
I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight and checked on the tiny vial under his reading lamp. These 400 micro-organisms don't even have a brain or a heart to know how much this little ten year old boy loves them.
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