This is a Nightmare!!

OK - I am still tutoring/coaching Monday through Thursday from 2:30 in the afternoon until around 8. This schedule works for me, and I have some great students right now. A**** my 3rd grader, had to do his first science fair project this year. GREAT!! Somehow this comes under coaching. Mom presents me with a wad of money, and after the Arabic has been translated - I understand that I am to come up with a project, buy all of the supplies needed, and get busy. After 30 + years of teaching in a school - I am just a little over science fair projects. A*** was so excited - all he wanted to do was to build a volcano and explode it. After a couple of hours of explaining and pleading with him - he realized (sort of) that this was not a true project with a hypothesis, etc. Now enters the book - Science Fair Projects for Dummies. I was able to talk him into what looked like a simple project to me - making electricity from citrus fruits. "Look A*** - the world needs energy, everyone is talking green - we can come up with an alternative energy source that will work. We can do this!!" I was over the top with enthusiasm just hoping that it would catch on. It did. We spent several afternoons together, and then almost...an entire weekend!! At one point, I had to call in the engineer husband to help us run the final test with the voltmeter from our garage. Wow - hooked up the copper wire to the slits in the grapefruit that had to have copper pennies to hold the wire in place, and FINALLY the needle moved!! After the screaming and jumping around subsided, we repeated our project for dummies. OK - same results, we are really onto something here!! Why hasn't the White House or Al Gore picked up on this phenomena!! This could be the answer to the recession that has taken hold of the SunShine State!! Alright - on to the rest of the story - everything is mounted semi-neatly on the project backboard (photos, conclusions, theory, etc) A*** leaves here with his fruit, wires and voltmeter and backboard. So very impressed with himself - not to mention Mr. Bishop, Kelly and me. I am just thankful that A*** has a project to turn in, and one - that after hours of practice - that he can actually explain to his class. Fast forward two weeks later...phone call from A***'s mom. She is screaming Arabic into the phone and I really have no idea what she is saying. Later that afternoon - I find out that A*** WON the science fair!!! Oh, please - this is a fair for grades 3-8 - how can this be???? Now, "WE" are moving on to the next level of competition!!!!! Is there anyone else out there who sees this as a nightmare!!!