wormy wednesday

liam's preschool class has been growing a worm farm for the past few months.  his teacher arranged for a worm expert (affectionately called the Worm Lady) to come to school and explain to his class what worms do: how great they are for the soil, the amazing things they do for our environment, and even how to compost to give the worms more space to do their jobs.  and then, each child received their very own worm.  they got to name it and check on it every day in the Worm Bin (a big plastic tub filled with dirt, shredded up newspaper, and discarded food from snack time.  i'm pretty sure there are a few carrot sticks in there courtesy of liam's lunch bag.)

the names the kids chose were pretty predictable: Wormy, Slimy, Squirmy.  and then there was liam's.  liam named his worm Henry Carroll.  henry carroll is a friend of his in another class, and there are so many henrys at preschool that liam refers to all of them by their first and last names.  i guess he just likes the name henry carroll, but it sure made things confusing.  "i fed Henry Carroll my banana peel today," he'd tell me.  or, "i had a hard time finding Henry Carroll when i got to the classroom, but he was curled up in the corner of the bin."  it took me a few days to get to the point where i wasn't having to pause and think the whole thing through.

the worm experiment concluded on friday, and the kids brought their worms home in a ziplock bag to release them into their natural habitat.  liam bid a fond farewell to Henry Carroll, watching him wriggle into the flower bed in our front yard.

but that's not the end of henry carroll.  he'll be playing with liam outside on the playground tomorrow.