My head is buzzing with numbers, having set out to clarify for Gillian the base 12 explanation in the "Little Twelvetoes" video from Schoolhouse Rock. This segued into an explanation of binary, took a slight detour into how a symbolic representation of a thing (e.g. written numbers and letters) is not the thing itself, and then wound up with a ( Read more... )

Today Elliot hugged me, and for the first time, he said spontaneously, "I love you, mommy." When he lifted his head off my shoulder, there was a long string of snot from his nose to my shirt.

You gotta take the good with the bad.

Gillian was cranky and tired this afternoon, and needed to eat about a half hour sooner than we fed her. When she tried to serve me some wooden play food and it kept rolling off the tray, she completely unraveled. I tried to convince her to use a plate with edges that would prevent the food from falling off, but she would have none of it. She sat ( Read more... )

( Re: Education Budget )

Elliot has embarked on his terrible twos a bit early. He's still wonderful, of course, but he is having regular contests of wills with us. Along with this, he has developed a scowly face; when he is feeling put upon, contrary and determined, he scrunches up his brows and slowly slides out his lower lip. It is hysterical. He just started making that ( Read more... )

(From a prompt by desdenova.)

We're having some problems with sleep.
At midnight the kids make a peep.
They snuggle and nurse,
It keeps getting worse.
We just want to lie down and weep.

This week is Gillian's spring break, which translates to more effort on my part because I have more entertainment requirements than usual. I also have an unexpected work project to complete this week, and rt_hon_rackman is still doing his Bataan Work March, so Team Parent is still undermanned (albeit sufficiently womanned). However, the kids and I have managed ( Read more... )

I have been thinking lately how much I enjoy hearing that one of my friends is pregnant. It is natural that people would feel positive about their family members procreating; evolution has hard-wired us with a desire to see our genetic material replicated. But why friends? I mean, beyond being happy that they are happy (assuming they are happy). I ( Read more... )

People talk the most amazing amount of twaddle when it comes to the behavior of boys and girls. "Boys are easier than girls." "Girls are easier than boys." "Girls are easier than boys until high school, then it's the other way around." Since most of these people have only two or three children, they are basing their opinions on a rather small ( Read more... )

I subscribe to The Economist because it's rather more intelligent and detailed than Time and its ilk, and has less of an American slant to it because it's a British publication. I also like how, in the middle of complex and hard-hitting news items, the journalists occasionally indulge in snarky comments, as only the Brits can. However, I don't ( Read more... )