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The 59th Circle Time: The Show and Tell Weekly Thread

Show and Tell is wasted on elementary schoolers. Join several dozen bloggers weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0. Everyone is welcome to join, even if you have never posted before and just found out about Show and Tell for the first time today. So yank out a photo of the worst bridesmaid’s dress you ever wore and tell us the story; show off the homemade soup you cooked last night; or tell us all about the scarf you made for your first knitting project. Details on how to participate are located at the bottom of this post.

Let’s begin.

I was trying to make all of my pictures from the past week count as my Show and Tell, but since the post and stories were getting too damn long, I took them out to serve as their own post (don’t you want to know how I came to strip down in a kosher restaurant?) and made this tiny vignette my item instead.

This week, we were at the beach when these boys came out of the water, a shovel held proudly in front of them as if they were coming back from battle with a head on a stick. They deposited their find on the sand and drew a circle around it. One jelly fish.

It oozed across the sand and made me incredibly sad. Not that I’m a fan of jellyfish nor would they extend much care to me if I were swimming by, but it seemed wrong to go into their home–the ocean–and remove them for the sole purpose of showing that you can do it.

I brought the twins over to see the jellyfish for two reasons. Being able to examine it up close seemed like the only silver lining in the event and I wanted to explain to them why we don’t remove animals from their home. We talked about how we would feel if someone came into our house, removed us from our home, and did it just for their own amusement.

We all felt sad for the jellyfish.

The ChickieNob offered up this shell instead for Show and Tell.


What are you showing today?

Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post if this is your first time joining along (Important: link to the permalink for the post, not the main url for your blog and use your blog’s name, not your name. Links not going to a Show and Tell post will be deleted). The list is open from now until late Friday night and a new one is posted every week.

Other People Standing at the Head of the Class:

1. Hobbit- ish Thoughts & Ramblings
2. My Pathway to Motherhood
3. IF Optimist, then…
4. I’m a Smart One
5. The Infertile Sushi- loving Princess
6. cowboybootrollerskates
7. Dragondreamer’s Lair
8. Weebles Wobblog
9. Building Heavenly Bridges
10. Destined to be an old woman with no regrets
11. Bear and Comedian
12. Wise Guy
13. Delenn
14. Becoming Whole
15. There’s a Baby at the End of This, Right?
16. A Little Hope
17. The Happy Hours
18. Fertile Ramblings
19. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Pampers
20. Parenthood for Me

Want to bring something to Show and Tell?
  • If you would like to join circle time and show something to the class, simply post each Saturday night (or earlier in the week or on Monday if you can’t do the weekend), hopefully including a picture if possible, and telling us about your item. It can be anything–a photo from a trip, a picture of the dress you bought this week, a random image from an old yearbook showing a person you miss. It doesn’t need to contain a picture if you can’t get a picture–you can simply tell a story about a single item. The list opens every Saturday night and closes on Tuesday night.
  • You must mention Show and Tell and include a link back to this post in your post so people can find the rest of the class. This spreads new readership around through the list. This is now required.
  • Label your post “Show and Tell” each week and then come back here and add the permalink for the post via the Mr. Linky feature (not your blog’s main url–use the permalink for your specific Show and Tell post).
  • Oh, and then the point is that you click through all of your classmates and see what they are showing this week. And everyone loves a good “ooooh” and “aaaah” and to be queen (or king) of the playground for five minutes so leave them a comment if you can.
  • Did you post a link and now it’s missing?: I reserve the right to delete any links that are not leading to a Show and Tell post or are the blogging equivalent of a spitball.

23 comments

1 Lavender Luz { 07.01.09 at 4:06 pm }

I know it's over the top anthropomorphizing, but when my son threatened to kill an ant, I asked him if he thought the ant had any children, and what the children would think if their daddy didn't come home to feed them tonight because a boy squished him.

This is the closest I've come to seeing a real jellyfish. I love ChickieNob's shell.

2 Another Dreamer { 07.01.09 at 4:23 pm }

Awww 🙁

I love ChickieNob's shell too.

3 'Murgdan' { 07.01.09 at 4:33 pm }

Ok. The jellyfish thing made me so sad. I've seen them washed up on the shore dead before…and that is a cool way to see them. After all, if they've washed up dead, it was just a natural thing…but to go into the water and KILL it and then bring it on shore, just seems so wrong.

I'm glad I didn't see that kid, I'd be tempted to knock him with the shovel and bring him to the ocean to show him off to the jellyfish. (not really, 'cause I'm not so violent).

But still.

I prefer the shell.

4 Mrs. Gamgee { 07.01.09 at 4:38 pm }

Teachable moments come in all shapes and sizes. I'm glad you were able to have a bit of good come out of the situation.

The shell is great!

5 IF Optimist, then... { 07.01.09 at 4:59 pm }

That is a beautiful shell and thank the ChickieNob (BTW-LOVE THAT BOOK) for finding it and sharing it with us. I'm with Murgdan. I'd be hella angry with the guy with the shovel.

6 Kymberli { 07.01.09 at 5:01 pm }

Good teachable moment. Sad, but good. A few years back, Jaiden found a frog outside, threw it up in the air, and let it fall on the concrete. He was too young to realize that the impact would have killed it, but he was in humored awe that it did. You can bet I used that as a teachable moment. I took the angle similar to Lori's and asked Jaiden to think about whether or not that frog had a family. Maybe that frog was someone's son and his parents would be sad if he didn't come home that night, just like Frank and I would be sad if he didn't come home. Jaiden cried for the next day out of guilt, but it sure as heck taught all my kids to respect all creatures with the same respect they'd want.

**And I'm apparently truly a Dumb One. I accidentally posted my name instead my blog name in one of the Show and Tell slots. Oops.

7 cowboyboot lady { 07.01.09 at 5:08 pm }

I agree about removing creatures from their homes. You transformed this event into a good lesson for the kids! I prefer the shell as well!

8 Kristin { 07.01.09 at 5:30 pm }

Way to seize the teaching moment! I hate people who are needlessly cruel to animals…although I Do fess up to smashing the ants that have been invading my house lately.

9 Malky B. { 07.01.09 at 5:52 pm }

I was bitten by a jellyfish once – not fun I'll tell you that much. Maybe they didn't want to get bitten.

10 Cara { 07.01.09 at 5:59 pm }

I love that you take every moment as a teachable one. Your kids will have so many valuable tools as they enter the world.

11 The Steadfast Warrior { 07.01.09 at 5:59 pm }

Awww, I love that ChickNob came back with that shell.

I had to laugh at Murgdan's comments because they're not far off what I feel. When I see stuff like that right now, my hormones kick into overdrive and "Angry Mamma" comes out. The guys sure were lucky I wasn't around…

12 Jess { 07.01.09 at 6:04 pm }

I am with Malky. Perhaps they killed it out of defense and then brought it to shore after. Jellyfish are freaking awful if you come near them….I have scars (not kidding) to prove it. And we plan our vacations now around jellyfish season. Because they wrap their tentacle-stingy-things around you and don't let go, and they sting the crap out of you. It's no joke. I hate jellyfish. I might be the only one that doesn't feel overly sad abotu this one, but I can't even stand to LOOK at them in aquariums.

shudder.

killing for the sake of killing, bad, but trust me…one less jellyfish near the shore…not a bad thing…even for your kids that day. After all, it should stay out in the ocean where it belongs!! Yikes.

The shell, though, is beautiful.

13 Delenn { 07.01.09 at 6:07 pm }

I love the beach! Love that Jellyfish and shell!

14 Astrid { 07.01.09 at 6:12 pm }

I'm sad for the jellyfish too. My parents did for me exactly what you're doing for yours. They taught me to respect all life and I wonder if I will get the chance to bring up my own children to have the same respect and carry on that legacy. After reading this sad story it did my heart good to hear your sensitivity to the subject and that of most of your commenters. Poor thing. Whatever the reason for the 'slaying' – those kids were the intruders. The jellyfish an innocent.

15 Photogrl { 07.01.09 at 6:52 pm }

Poor jellyfish.

Good for you turning it into a learning experience…I don't know if I could have gotten past my anger to do that.

LOVE the shell.

16 WiseGuy { 07.01.09 at 7:12 pm }

Like Lavender Luz, this is possibly the closest that I have come to see a jelly-fish…

You really turned this into a very nice learning experience. Recently, a bouquet meant for a newly-engaged couple was lying in my lap, and a little girl (another guest at the party) started plucking out the petals from it. She could not pull out the whole, so she was just messing around with 'as much as' she could pluck. Anyways, I told her to paste back the petals just the way they were originally. Alas, the girl took umbrage and she just walked off the site.

🙂

17 becomingwhole { 07.01.09 at 9:09 pm }

you are constantly impressing me with your grasping the small (and big) moments and turning them into teaching/learning moments.

I love how ChickieNob's hand looks holding the shell. So precious.

18 Queenie. . . { 07.02.09 at 5:11 am }

That is sort of a sad post. I love that ChickieNob came up with an alternate for your S&T post!

19 Mrs. Higrens { 07.02.09 at 6:55 am }

I'll second Jess and Malky, and furthermore add that jelly fish are the wasps of the ocean – not only painful but possibly deadly; and worse than wasps, not easily avoided in a live and let live way if you want to be in the water.

All I could think was how did they get it out of the water without getting stung because OUCH!

20 Leslee { 07.02.09 at 7:30 am }

Growing up near the beach, I've seen this happen before. If the jellyfish is still alive, I'll ask to borrow the shovel and will take it back into the ocean. I'm glad you took the opportunity to talk to your kids… and I hope you said everything loud so that the other kids felt bad. 😉

21 battynurse { 07.02.09 at 8:06 am }

That is sad. I've seen jelly fish fairly frequently that have washed up on the beach but they always seem already dead.

22 Kristin (kekis) { 07.02.09 at 12:09 pm }

What a gross photo. Did someone stake the guy on the shovel and drop him on the beach?

And good for ChickieNob for having a sweet heart and showing her shell.

23 Io { 07.02.09 at 8:44 pm }

Ewwww. Dead jellyfish. I do hate swimming with them though.
I remember swimming in this cool hidden cove in Norway when I was nannying and I had a stick with me so I could push the wrong colored jellyfish away from the kids. They were *everywhere*
I didn't want them dead though.

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