Digging for Gems

Gold has been discovered in my backyard. And diamonds. Lots of diamonds.

Seriously, don't knock on my door with a shovel tomorrow. We have been studying rocks and gems lately and my kids are way into it. "Hey!" I heard one suggest, "Let's go dig in the backyard and see if we find any gems!"

"Yeah, we're going to be rich!" was the response and off they went. My kitchen counter now has several piles of "precious stones" just waiting to be polished.

One of my children is much more into this than the others and he is quite serious about it. I tried to join him the other day and he explained to me which ones were diamonds and which were rubies or sapphires as we sifted through the gravel. Trying to participate, I found a rock with some sparkle to it and excitedly showed him my "diamond."

After a brief inspection, he broke the news to me. "No, Mom, that's just a rock," he said with disdain.

I gave up and left the gem hunting to the pros.