Deers, and owls, and skeletons, oh my!

My niece, Kelly is 8.
The absolute best age to teach
They love school,
They're excited to learn.
Not yet fresh-heads,
who talk back,
They're still in awe of school
and love the teacher.

So when Kelly and I were
carving a pumpkin together,
I asked her
what she was learning
In science
and she mentioned

The body.
the heart.
I got excited,
and told her
I could get a deer heart
to give to her teacher.
She said she'd
have to ask her mom.

Then she said they learned
sbout how food
went down their belly.

I got excited
told her I had a lesson
that showed the whole
digestive system,
where they could
make the first bite
all the way
to poop.

She said Yuck!
But we laughed hysterically!
50 year old,
mature aunt Julie.

Then she said this week
they were
working on the skeleton.

I got excited
told her I could get her
Owl pellets.

Which are basically
owl throw up.
of the stuff
that owls can't digest.
whole skeletons
of animals they've eaten.
you pick through the pellet,
find  the bones,
then put the skeleton
back together.

As soon as I said
throw up,
she was shaking her head.
Even when I
told her I could
get fake pellets.

Then I realized
I had the perfect
skeleton lesson
And I offered her
pictures of my vertebrae.
15 years.
Of Cds, and x-rays,
That she was really
Excited about

When I told her that
I could show her the
Broken vertebrae
all the screws
And rods
And cadaver bone
And cages
And how
every couple of years
the screws and rods
Got higher and higher
Up my back
I made it sound
Spooky

She loved it!
She said she'd
run in and call
her mom!!

"And Aunt Julie.
what were they called?"
Vertebrae

"Veldebed"
me: close, ver te brae
"veee debrel"
Me: You're getting close, vertebrae
"veertabbed" "ventaded"

Me: ok why don't you go in
and call your mom
and we'll work on
you pronouncing
it later
So she ran in
And two minutes later

And very nonchalantly,
comes out
The back door
And, over her shoulder,
I guess proud,
for finally learning
how to say the word,
Says to me
"I told my mom about your
veraBradleys".