Panicked, productive approach
On the next to last day of Thanksgiving break, my middle school-aged daughter informed my husband and me she had a social studies project due the day they returned to class. Not particularly worried because she is generally on top of her studies, I nonchalantly asked what she needed to complete it.
The list was astounding.
“Well, it is supposed to be a two-foot-square, three-dimensional replica of a manor house and serf village,” she began. “So I need a piece of plywood, some paint, trees, little men, plastic animals, some Play-doh, pebbles, popsicle sticks, markers, wooden houses …”
She kept talking, and my mouth began to gape open. I couldn’t believe this was a weekend project – even a long weekend.
“When was this assigned?” I asked, fully ready to call the school and question the sanity of the assigning teacher. Surely they must know a project of this magnitude requires more than two or three days for a child to complete.
Alas, I knew the teacher hadn’t lost her mind when my daughter sheepishly handed me the assignment. It was assigned a full month before the due date. My incredulity transferred to my daughter (and I silently mouthed an apology to her teacher for misplaced irritation).
My husband went and cut her a piece of plywood, and then we headed to town. We stopped at several stores and purchased quite a few bits and bobs of crafty goodness that we imagined she may be able to use. We bought extra supplies, figuring we could return unopened packages found to be extraneous. We brought the bags into the house and dumped them on the table.
She worked for the next two days nonstop. She stayed up late and got up early. Food was brought in and set on the table, some of which remained untouched. But, she completed the project, and did it independently. She built houses, a church and fence. She made a pond surrounded by pebbled bridgeworks. She had little wooden people – hand-decorated – working the gardens, sleeping in houses and fishing for food. It looked wonderful!
I drove her to school the day it was due. She volunteered to ride the bus, but I feared it wouldn’t arrive in one piece. She was asked to present the project that day, and just as quickly as it began for us, the project was complete.
I took pictures of it to preserve in the scrapbook and told her she may dispose of it any way she wishes. (Her dad and brother persuaded her to allow them to use it as the backdrop of a short film. Apparently, a plethora of little green army men and tiny plastic cowboys are going to pillage and plunder the manor house and light everything in their wake on fire. It promises to be the best B-movie of the season.)
As for her grade? She got a high B, due more to her lack of skills as a public speaker than the design of her project. She learned nothing from the experience, however, other than that she can procrastinate and still make a good grade.
Hence yesterday’s announcement that she has a science project due today.
Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.