And it is Leap Day!!!

And I either got through to Karl about what Leap Day is and why it exists (there's a saying that there is no man-made institution that doesn't have a purpose, and I have yet to figure one out that doesn't have a purpose), or he's tired of hearing me yap about it.

This is one of those fantastic things about homeschooling your kid - you can harp on something until they get it, which is not something they do in public school.

How I explained it to him was that the earth doesn't know our calendar, it is something we made up, and it's not perfectly lined up with the seasons. If we didn't do Leap Day, in a couple hundred years, we'd end up with Christmas in the Summer, like they have in Bolivia, and Bolivia would have Christmas in the Winter, like we do now. He understands their seasons are the opposite of ours, so I am hoping that he does understand, and not just telling me he gets it now.

Ground Hog Day with Leap Day Soon to Be Here

Well, some say Ground Hog Day was yesterday, but I've always felt it was the second of the second, and that would be today. Then, 27 more days, and it will be Leap Day. Karl wants to catch a ground hog now (I should have known, right?) and we have plenty here. They are all over the place, even here in the city. These are some very large animals, too, for something that lives underground. I really need a camera! I don't care what the news people say, or even if they agree with me - I think we only have a very short time left before SPRING hits, and it's going to be a nice one, without any of the common floods we usually have here.

I think it's Karl's very young age that is making it so difficult to explain that we add a day every four years to the calendar. But, I have all month, so I'm going to try another approach and see if explaining it from a solar system and climate and seasons approach will work. Wish me luck!