My Children, the Space Cadets

I am the proud mother of two bona fide space cadets.  This past weekend Googie’s Cub Scout pack had an astronomy presentation for the astronomy belt loop, a type of award that Cub Scouts can earn. The program was going to start with a presentation and would conclude with some field work to give everyone a chance to use their telescopes. 

When we arrived, the scouts were already sitting on the floor in the front of the room while the adults were sitting behind them. The room was packed.  You could feel the excitement in the air.  Everyone that had a telescope had brought it.  Astronomy is one of Bubba’s hobbies so he brought some of his astronomy books and his six-inch Dobsonian telescope.  As soon as we walked in, Googie decided that he would be sitting in the very front of the room and since Bubba is a Den Chief, he was standing to the side with the leaders.  Normally I like to sit next to my children so I can remind them to keep quiet but all the adult seats close to the front of the room were taken.  This meant that I was as far in the back of the room as possible while still being in the same room.  

The man giving the lecture was very knowledgeable.  His presentation was clear and the scouts were very interested in what he had to say, especially mine as everyone there found out.  Now, for fun, my children are constantly reading books about astronomy and watching documentaries about space.  They don’t know much about popular music, video games or T.V. shows, but they can tell you everything you ever wanted to know (or not know) about astronomy.  Homeschooled children are weird that way, especially hyperactive or autistic ones.  The presentation started and so did my children.  They kept answering the questions and blurting out facts.  The leaders were trying really hard to get them to be quiet and give the other children and the presenter a chance to speak. Each time I heard one of my children’s name being called, I kept wanting to crawl and hide under the table.  Wait, I think I actually did crawl under the table. There was no stifling their enthusiasm.  They were convinced that they knew all about astronomy and they were going to let everyone there know it. 

Finally, we got a chance to go outside and look through the telescopes.  Although it was very windy that night, it was clear and cool and we were able to see quite a bit.  We were able to see Jupiter on the horizon with three of its four viewable moons.  We also saw the Orion nebula, the Pleiades cluster, and the craters on our moon.  (Yikes, it sure sounds like I know what I'm talking about!  Actually, Bubba filled me in on the details.) This wasn’t too bad for a night of stargazing in the city.  By then it was getting late so we had to pack up and leave.  I wanted to duck out ASAP when the presentation was over, but my space cadets didn’t let me.  They wanted to stick around and keep bombarding the man giving the presentation with questions and facts about space. I could see the poor man’s pleading eyes searching for mercy.  I literally had to drag each of my space cadets, one at a time, out of there by the elbow.  After that night I couldn't wait to go home to get some space.  Yes, beam me up Scotty…and hurry!