Pluto is a Star

My son and our neighbor, Keira, wanted to watch a show about space today.   I was navigating around to the documentaries section of Netflix and my son called out, “that one!”  He was lured by the very colorful picture for the series, Cosmos, which was in fact a show about space, so I pulled it up and started watching it with the two children.

His friend is nine-years-old and knows a lot more about everything in compared to my son.   She can also read.    The two of them sat very close while the show started explaining our “cosmic address”.   It was interesting to hear the two of them speculate on what was on the screen.   Pictures of the Earth from orbit were declared, “The Arctic” followed by shots of the sun ablaze which they decided was Mars.

The planets were next.  My son loves the planets.   He has an old DVD called, The Planets, he likes to watch over and over and as a result he and his sister are pretty good with planet names and colors.   But Keira wanted to make sure he knew Pluto was no longer designated as a planet.   She told him, “Pluto isn’t a planet any more, it’s a star.”

My son thought this explanation was just fine and the two of them went on learning about the planets, solar system, galaxy and universe as they sat close together on the couch.

The Big Boy Update:  My son lost one of his favorite toys today—the Tubation.   He lost it and believes I have thrown it away forever because he was so very unkind I lost my temper and said it was being put in the trash.   I need more guidance as a parent because I can’t understand why he takes pleasure in saying what other people build is boring, stupid, <insert other derogatory or insulting comment> when he hates it when the same is done to him.    I’ve tried multiple avenues to foster grace, courtesy and compassion, but I’m having no luck.   It is on my list to talk about with his play therapist, because there’s probably more underlying the issue than I’m understanding.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter drew a pig the other day.   She told my mother her pig was, “piggietastic”.   She further said her pig was, “piggieperfect”.   It was a rather nice pig, so we kept the drawing.