Owl Moon

This week was all about owls, normally a cause for concern in this house. Aidan has been terrified of owls for about two years now. This has been a major source of disappointment for my husband, a lover of all things owl. The owl that started this reign of terror is a little animatronic owl at our downtown library that quietly hoots at you as you enter the children's section. My son was so terrified of this owl that the mere thought of visiting the downtown library used to bring him to tears. For the past few months, he has been able to work up the nerve to cover his ears, close his eyes and run as fast as humanly possible past it. This, and the assurance that the owl was hooting at Adelaide, not him. Adelaide doesn't seem to be bothered by this owl in the least.

A few weeks ago, my husband took the kids to the Cranbrook Institute of Science. When they arrived, they found that the museum would be closing shortly. So, they decided to head outside and walk around the museum grounds. There, they found some owls. These real-life owls were apparently not as terrifying as the menace at the library because everyone came home excited about owls. They returned the following week for another visit.

This came as quite a relief to me because our school book this week is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. It is a beautifully illustrated story about a child and father on a nighttime owling trip. We fearlessly read it everyday. For social studies, we talked about special times we have spent with dad and drew pictures of those events. For art, we studied tiny details in the drawings. We learned about seconds, minutes and hours for math. Our science lesson involved a little study of owls and a homemade owl book. This weekend, Matt and the kids headed back to Cranbrook for more owl studies while I made these fun cupcakes for dessert tonight. I think they were a hit!