We enrolled Dee Dee in the Future Scientists after school program in January.  When the course started in the beginning of February, the first session was cancelled because they didn’t have an instructor.  There wasn’t an instructor for the second session, but instead of sending the kids home they had the Future Scientists watch a video with the Everyday Leaders group.  The two names sound similar enough, like two flavors of frozen desserts from the same creamery.  But Dee Dee had no interest in the video.  She has leadership qualities, but I think the Everyday commitment was more than she wanted to take on.  They did have a teacher show up for the third session, but the teacher didn’t have any lesson plan or materials.  So, the teacher played I Spy with the kids and then invited them to play at the sink.  They had access to water, soap, and paper towels and were allowed to experiment however they liked. 

The program coordinator did her best to get things whipped together for the following week, but the school was closed due to snow, and that was the end of February.  But, one month after the first session, the Future Scientists met with an instructor who had a plan and materials.  There were balloons, and powder that changed color, and other age-appropriate experiments.  Dee Dee was excited to go back the following week.  Unfortunately, it had been too long since the girls were last sick (about a week) and they were due for a couple of days home, coughing, sneezing, and nose blowing.  Dee Dee was too ill to feel upset about missing the Future Scientists class.   

The day before the last meeting of the Future Scientists, Dee Dee brought home a flyer displaying the after school courses for the next quarter. We also received an email with the same information. Future Scientists was not listed as an option. Considering that the girls will both be taking swimming lessons during the same time period, my wife and I agreed that it might be best if Dee Dee didn’t do an after school course, anyway. Then, on the day of the last Future Scientists meeting of the quarter, the program coordinator sent an email letting the parents of Future Scientists know that the course would be offered next quarter, but she wasn’t going to open up the enrollment until all the kids who were enrolled this quarter had a chance to sign up, as a way of apologizing to the kids for having such a rough start with the course. We decided to see how the last meeting went before talking with Dee Dee about it. 

On the afternoon of Dee Dee’s last Future Scientists meeting, I brought Audio home from school and helped her work on a birthday card for her mother. Audio felt bad that she didn’t have an after-school class to go to, so to cheer her up I made her some hot cocoa. But I told her to not tell Dee Dee because even though she got to go to an after school program, Dee Dee might feel left out for not getting hot cocoa. So, Audio drank her hot cocoa with the ten marshmallows she asked for (I sliced two normal sized marshmallows into twelve pieces, and I ate two of the pieces) and made a card for her mom. My wife got off work in time to pick up Dee Dee and brought her home. They were only in the house for about a minute when Audio shouted, “Dad gave me hot cocoa!” Dee Dee was crying before Audio finished her announcement. I explained to Dee Dee that the hot cocoa was to help Audio feel better about not having an after school program to go to as opposed to some special treat just for her. Dee Dee just asked if sometime soon she could have some cocoa, too. I told her she could, but first things first. 

I explained to Dee Dee that if she wanted to do the Future Scientists course again next quarter we’d need to get her signed up as soon as possible. Then I asked how the last meeting of this quarter went. Dee Dee said that she made a design with a dry erase marker on a plate and then made the design float up off the plate by pouring water on the plate, she learned to tie a balloon, and she rubbed a balloon on her head and then used the static electricity from the balloon to pick up salt and pepper from a dish. And even though she got pepper in her eye, and her eye stung, and she couldn’t get it to stop stinging, she did want to do the course again. So, we signed her up for it.