It all started easily enough with a game app the kids are addicted to now called DragonVale, a simple game where you breed dragons for gold. They spend a lot of time around here debating the best breeds and habitats, comparing who is doing better. Then, Grayson disappeared with some art supplies and resurfaced an hour later very proud of his creation. He had begun thinking about the different breeds of gryphon in his other favorite game, World of Warcraft. After thinking through which gryphon breeds came first, which were more closely related, etc., he began organizing his thoughts into a detailed "Family Tree" which illustrated not only his idea of their relations, but also their unique traits. His artwork opened up a whole new conversation between the older two kids about cross-breeding.
And then, they turned to Mom. Their questions weren't just many, but difficult. Soon I felt as though I were in the middle of a Biology oral examination. I answered as well as I could and soon I was pulling out paper and a pen to illustrate everything from mitosis to DNA. When we reached taxonomy I was exhausted. Suddenly I remembered a wonderful treasure I had tucked away nearly two decades ago. I raced to the schoolroom and dug it out, handing it proudly to my oldest daughter. "This will explain everything!" I said with confidence. She settled down with it, flipping past diagrams of mitosis, and genetic trait charts to thumb through the index at the back of the giant tome. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "They have marine biology in here!" I smiled and walked away, relieved I could trust her questions to an expert for a while.
A few seconds later I hear her call out to me. "Mom, what's echinodermata?" *Sigh* Thank goodness for curious children.
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