"Pluto is dead." WHAT?!?

I am no longer the wise parent filling my children's minds with wonderful bits of information about the world. I used to be (perhaps) as I explained things like how tadpoles grow into frogs. And I imagined that it would last forever.... Seth in high school dutifully listening as I explained the perplexities of finding the Limit in Calculus or standing out on the track sharing little tips and exercises to help increase speed, endurance, agility, or whatever their sport required.

But alas, I found out today that instead of sharing wisdom and knowledge I just better keep my dang mouth shut in hopes of not sounding like an aged idiot! Sure, I have lots of knowledge, but I am quickly learning that the "facts" I learned and studied in school are no longer true.

Did you see the news today? Pluto no longer a planet? Absolutely absurd!! Oh, sure the so called "scientists" have learned more about the solar system and have come to realize that Pluto doesn't quite fit the class of what they think a planet is. This ruins everything. I will now have to throw out "P" and "S" from my encyclopedias as the information in them is completely wrong. Pluto is in fact not a planet. This may just end my ability to help create solar system models for science fairs!

Now I want to know who remembers coloring good ole Brontosaurus in your younger years. Mr. Brontosaurus was the revered "long neck" of my time. You can't beat having a name like "Thunder-Lizard". Well it turns out that the scientist first discovered Apatosaurus, then "discovered" Brontosaurus a little while later. However, it was eventually decided that the "Brontosaurus" bones actually contained the head of a different sauropod. So there isn't a brontosaurus and the name "Apatosaurus" is the correct term. It is baffling really. And to this day Seth knows many more dinosaur names than I ever could imagine existed (and Logan will probably know even more!) There are a handful of different "long necks" that are commonly talked about in our home.

Okay, so maybe this rant was a little extreme. As scientists keep learning more, I expect that I will keep learning more so that I don't end up being like the people who never could grasp that the world is round. This is always the effects of time and discovery. Healthcare has been through so many changes and we finally have so much knowledge in that area, and yet so much more to learn. But I guess that is what life is for... I am just glad that I have two kids to keep me educated and technologically up to date.