overload

I try to be a good mom when it comes to teaching my son about the world. I guess we all teach our children what we know about the world. And what I know about the world is the ocean and the wetlands. Hey, I'm a Florida Environmental Studies major. What can I say?

So when we come to the beach I really puff up like a chicken and start filling Andy's head with all of my hard-earned knowledge.

Andy knows about bivalves. He can pick them out on the beach and knows to watch as they dig into the sand. He loves sand dollars and can tell me that they're Echinoderms. He's never heard the term "seaweed" because all of my college professors objected to it. He calls it seagrass. Which it is, mind you. (He also refers to a swamp as a "wetland" and a jungle as "the rainforest". That a' boy!)

I've also been working on teaching him about shore birds. He likes the Snowy Egret, with its yellow feet. He loves Pelicans. Loves them. And this trip we've been seeing Artic Terns. I love terns. So I point them out to him often.

A little too often, I think, because yesterday as we were bobbing in the waves I said, "Look Andy! There's an Arctic Tern catching a fish!"

And he sighed. He actually sighed. And he said, without even looking at me, "You always see Artic Terns, Mommy."

Then he swam over to his dad.