Writing Ideas and Homeschooling

I gave blood yesterday. Not my favorite pasttime, but necessary in my opinion. At least they found my vein the first time this visit -- instead of having to poke me in both arms like last time.

My six y.o. daughter came with me and -- after fielding all the usual questions "why aren't you in school?" "I'm homeschooled" -- she settled down into a chair beside me to watch the goings on. I think that the lady taking my blood was surprised that I carried on a conversation with my daughter nearly the entire time. DD was full of questions "Why does the scale rock back and forth?" "Why can't you move your arm?" "Why are you squeezing that spongy thing?" and so on.

Life is all about education, don't you think? As a homeschooling mom, I try not to miss any opportunities to teach. Grocery shopping? Math! Vacuuming? Physics and P.E. Thank You cards? Handwriting, Grammar and Creative Writing!

I think, as writers, we do much the same thing. The world is full of ideas -- and sometimes it only takes one line of a conversation or one odd person to walk by you in the store for a seed to be planted. But we have to be aware and diligent. Look at everything as a learning opportunity. Write down as much as you can remember about the old lady in the baseball cap who mysteriously disappeared from her bench at the park when you turned away for a heartbeat.

My DD's constant questions (and constant talking!) can wear me down by the end of each day, but I try to answer them. And children think of the strangest things!

Do flies have ears? Not as such. However, they can detect vibrations through their antennae and hairs on their body and limbs, and so they can hear in some way. Grasshoppers and some other arthropods do have 'ears' in the form of membranes called tympanae, which appear as small patches on the body.

How far away is the moon? The moon is at an average distance of 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) away from Earth. That is about the width of 30 Earths. Because the moon does not orbit Earth in a perfect circle, but instead travels in a slightly elliptical orbit, its distance from Earth varies between 225,700 miles (363,300 kilometers) and 252,000 miles (405,500 kilometers).

I'm storing away this information to use in a book someday. Hope she comes up with some more!