Friday, March 29, 2013
trip
We are leaving on our trip today, I'm not ready, but I had to make sure I could add blog entries before I left. Why? So I can document this expedition! Just in case we get eaten by a shark, which id's my son's main concern. Don't worry, if I get eaten by a shark you will find out.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
A New Study
You might read the news on your computer or your phone and see all these stories about new studies. Many of these studies are things that people investigate in order to help others better understand humanity. While I applaud the point of these studies, to better understand people, I am appalled at how the results are used. I sometimes flip through parenting magazines while I'm waiting at the doctor or some place without my children. There are studies in those too. All these studies got me thinking, so I went to look at a few of them. It's not easy to do. If you investigate where these studies are being studied and look at the actual data you might stop reading the news about studies. First, let me say that many of these scientific studies are actually surveys done by well meaning "soft" science people. As an engineer I am a little upset by these being called studies. What it is really is a survey and lets be honest how many people answer all survey questions 100% honestly all the time? I'll tell you, it's not 100%.
So, look at a study. It's not easy to do, but you can sometimes find the source paper, make sure it's a study and not a survey. If it's a survey you can probably just consider it interesting. If it's a study, a real scientific study where they observe things and collect actual data look at the variables they use to come to their conclusion before changing your behavior. Let me give you some examples.
Milk causes obesity in 74% of children.
Really. Ok, let's see, the study said that children that drank whole milk or 2% were more likely to be obese than children that drank less than two servings of 1% or skim milk every day. Now, if you read the study they don't consider the activity level of the children, what else they eat, or any other variable that might impact obesity. Hmmm. Interesting isn't it? So based on this study I should stop allowing my children from drinking 2% or whole milk, right? Well, not so fast because some studies show that children that drink milk have better bone densities than children who don't drink 2%.
What's best in the study may or may not be what's best for your child. My children are not statistics, they are children and so I am going to be their mother to the best of my ability. So, next time you read a study realize that what's best in the study isn't really what's best in the real world.
So, look at a study. It's not easy to do, but you can sometimes find the source paper, make sure it's a study and not a survey. If it's a survey you can probably just consider it interesting. If it's a study, a real scientific study where they observe things and collect actual data look at the variables they use to come to their conclusion before changing your behavior. Let me give you some examples.
Milk causes obesity in 74% of children.
Really. Ok, let's see, the study said that children that drank whole milk or 2% were more likely to be obese than children that drank less than two servings of 1% or skim milk every day. Now, if you read the study they don't consider the activity level of the children, what else they eat, or any other variable that might impact obesity. Hmmm. Interesting isn't it? So based on this study I should stop allowing my children from drinking 2% or whole milk, right? Well, not so fast because some studies show that children that drink milk have better bone densities than children who don't drink 2%.
What's best in the study may or may not be what's best for your child. My children are not statistics, they are children and so I am going to be their mother to the best of my ability. So, next time you read a study realize that what's best in the study isn't really what's best in the real world.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Seriously about gone!
We are leaving, we aren't leaving, we need to be ready now, but not right now...
You would think that the uncertainty of possibly leaving to travel across the country with four children and a 32 foot trailer would drive me crazy, but I'm excited. You would think that agreeing to teach high school chemistry at the home school group next year would mean that I'm already crazy, but I'm looking forward to it. You would think that spending three days cleaning my closet, it's 95 square feet and is the only on in the house, and still not being done would make me insane. I'm excited, the shelves are going to work! All the stress in my life is totally manageable. I'm doing great. I just completely freaking out, on the inside, because Saturday I have to have both my girls' hair in buns. Simple you say well here's the problem.
My oldest is almost eight and her hair is fine and curly and so the keeps it short. It's about chin length, with bangs. How do you put this in a ballerina bun? With nine pounds of gel. Then, a four minute spray with super hold hair spray. Next, you put berets. Then, you pray. Count on about 45 minutes.
My second daughter, in age, is six and her hair is lovely. It's about two inches past her shoulder, all one length, and curly, and thick. It takes me ten minutes just to brush it. And her hair is so heavy that it pulls itself out of pony tails. On top of that she hates to have her hair combed. Yippie!
I can't wait until Saturday.
Ok, now that I got that out of the way I feel so much better. Please think of me around 2 on Saturday and send happy hair thoughts my way.
You would think that the uncertainty of possibly leaving to travel across the country with four children and a 32 foot trailer would drive me crazy, but I'm excited. You would think that agreeing to teach high school chemistry at the home school group next year would mean that I'm already crazy, but I'm looking forward to it. You would think that spending three days cleaning my closet, it's 95 square feet and is the only on in the house, and still not being done would make me insane. I'm excited, the shelves are going to work! All the stress in my life is totally manageable. I'm doing great. I just completely freaking out, on the inside, because Saturday I have to have both my girls' hair in buns. Simple you say well here's the problem.
My oldest is almost eight and her hair is fine and curly and so the keeps it short. It's about chin length, with bangs. How do you put this in a ballerina bun? With nine pounds of gel. Then, a four minute spray with super hold hair spray. Next, you put berets. Then, you pray. Count on about 45 minutes.
My second daughter, in age, is six and her hair is lovely. It's about two inches past her shoulder, all one length, and curly, and thick. It takes me ten minutes just to brush it. And her hair is so heavy that it pulls itself out of pony tails. On top of that she hates to have her hair combed. Yippie!
I can't wait until Saturday.
Ok, now that I got that out of the way I feel so much better. Please think of me around 2 on Saturday and send happy hair thoughts my way.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
T-Ball Practice
Saturday was a crazy day, we woke up 4 hours from home, in an overpriced hotel, and drove through wind and snow to get to t-ball practice, went to a baby shower (girls only), then collapsed on the couch. We were four hours from home because we went to buy a new to us car that is wonderful and fun for the whole family, but we were all tired by the time we got to t-ball at 11 am and it was snowing so those of us not on the field were cold and in a sour mood. Now that I've set the stage let me explain the practice itself.
This was my son's first ever t-ball practice. He's been playing hockey for two years, he is fairly coordinated and can run. He is also four, just barely.
First thing he got to do was practice throwing the ball. This was fairly successful, he's done it before in the kitchen during a blizzard so he hit the coach near the glove almost every time. Then he went to batting practice.
Batting practice was different than throwing. My son has never hit the ball off a t before in his life. This did not slow him down and he was fairly successful at the practice station they set up near third base. He hit the ball twice and chased it down twice before the coach convinced him to hit the ball and stay there instead of going and getting it. His third and successful hit earned him the right to go to home plate and hit the ball. There were several other children set up to field the ball so when it was his turn he got to hit the ball and run the bases, here's what happened.
First hit was a line drive between second and third base, no one fielded the ball. A small boy with a red jacket watched it roll past his foot. Then a big kid went and got it, none of the coaches or parents really noticed this though, we were all watching my son. My awesome, slightly big for his age four year old running as fast as he could right past first base. He didn't even get near stepping on it. He ran out about 6 feet into the outfield before the coaches could turn him toward second, which he also didn't consider stepping on. He then ran past second and around, never leaving the grass. He turned about two feet past third and stopped at the practice batting station after the outfield coach told him to "go back to where you hit the ball." The hitting coach told him to "go step on the black thing where you hit the ball." He ran to home, looked at the t, gave the coach a "grown-ups are nuts" look and got in line to hit again. That's right, he hit a great ball, ran really fast, and never touched a single base. He had a huge smile on his face.
Then came his second hit, it was amazing, I don't remember where it went, I was busy praying he might step on a base. He ran fast, he missed first again. He got mad at the kid who tagged him without the ball. He stepped on second base to avoid another player who looked as though he might tag him. He stepped on third because there was a coach in his way. He sped home and stopped agonizingly short of home plate. Two out of four is better than none so we call it a success.
We thought batting practice was the best but the girls and I noticed that every ten minutes or so my son would stop and check out his shoes. He has some really nifty red, yellow, and black running shoes that I bought him just for t-ball and he likes them almost as much as he likes his jock, which is a different story that will stay in the family. He spent much of practice looking at his new shoes. He was looking at his shoes when he was playing right short stop, that's the made-up t-ball position between first and second, and the ball rolled right by his foot. He saw the ball. He picked up the ball and put it in his glove. He looked at the coach who was pointing to first base so he ran to first base. The coach said "throw it." So he did, when he was no more than 18 inches from the first baseman. Then, after completing his job, he returned to right short-stop to check out his cool shoes.
After practice we all got in our new car. "How was practice?" I asked my boy. "It was great Mom, no one hit me in the penis." Well then, that's about all I can say about that. Hoping to get an explanation I asked, "Why did you keep looking at your shoes?"
He grinned, "Mom, these shoes are great! They run fast, and slow!"
Yeah, I can't wait until next practice.
This was my son's first ever t-ball practice. He's been playing hockey for two years, he is fairly coordinated and can run. He is also four, just barely.
First thing he got to do was practice throwing the ball. This was fairly successful, he's done it before in the kitchen during a blizzard so he hit the coach near the glove almost every time. Then he went to batting practice.
Batting practice was different than throwing. My son has never hit the ball off a t before in his life. This did not slow him down and he was fairly successful at the practice station they set up near third base. He hit the ball twice and chased it down twice before the coach convinced him to hit the ball and stay there instead of going and getting it. His third and successful hit earned him the right to go to home plate and hit the ball. There were several other children set up to field the ball so when it was his turn he got to hit the ball and run the bases, here's what happened.
First hit was a line drive between second and third base, no one fielded the ball. A small boy with a red jacket watched it roll past his foot. Then a big kid went and got it, none of the coaches or parents really noticed this though, we were all watching my son. My awesome, slightly big for his age four year old running as fast as he could right past first base. He didn't even get near stepping on it. He ran out about 6 feet into the outfield before the coaches could turn him toward second, which he also didn't consider stepping on. He then ran past second and around, never leaving the grass. He turned about two feet past third and stopped at the practice batting station after the outfield coach told him to "go back to where you hit the ball." The hitting coach told him to "go step on the black thing where you hit the ball." He ran to home, looked at the t, gave the coach a "grown-ups are nuts" look and got in line to hit again. That's right, he hit a great ball, ran really fast, and never touched a single base. He had a huge smile on his face.
Then came his second hit, it was amazing, I don't remember where it went, I was busy praying he might step on a base. He ran fast, he missed first again. He got mad at the kid who tagged him without the ball. He stepped on second base to avoid another player who looked as though he might tag him. He stepped on third because there was a coach in his way. He sped home and stopped agonizingly short of home plate. Two out of four is better than none so we call it a success.
We thought batting practice was the best but the girls and I noticed that every ten minutes or so my son would stop and check out his shoes. He has some really nifty red, yellow, and black running shoes that I bought him just for t-ball and he likes them almost as much as he likes his jock, which is a different story that will stay in the family. He spent much of practice looking at his new shoes. He was looking at his shoes when he was playing right short stop, that's the made-up t-ball position between first and second, and the ball rolled right by his foot. He saw the ball. He picked up the ball and put it in his glove. He looked at the coach who was pointing to first base so he ran to first base. The coach said "throw it." So he did, when he was no more than 18 inches from the first baseman. Then, after completing his job, he returned to right short-stop to check out his cool shoes.
After practice we all got in our new car. "How was practice?" I asked my boy. "It was great Mom, no one hit me in the penis." Well then, that's about all I can say about that. Hoping to get an explanation I asked, "Why did you keep looking at your shoes?"
He grinned, "Mom, these shoes are great! They run fast, and slow!"
Yeah, I can't wait until next practice.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
A Funny Story
On Tuesdays my children and I often go to our favorite restaurant for lunch. We sit there and eat and I tell them a story. They like it when I make up silly stories and we have some favorites. They like the broccoli monster stories and Princess Turtle stories and a few others. We have a fun time and sometimes they tell me stories they make up. I love this part of my week and actually sometimes look forward to it more than the children I think. We've been doing this for over a year, not every week of course, but almost. We are regulars you could say. The workers know us, the other patrons know us, and even the nice guy who cleans up our mess every time says hi now. A few weeks ago we went for our Tuesday lunch. As we waited for our food I told a "scary" story to my children. These stories aren't really scary of course, but they have some element of the unknown or suspense in them. At the table next to us sat a nice older couple discussing the afternoon. The woman got up to leave and the man simply sat there. "Why aren't you getting up?" the lady asked. The man just looked at her "I'm waiting for the end of the story of course." As though he couldn't understand why she wasn't. So they sat there and listened to the rest of the story for about ten minutes. My children then thanked them for listening and they thanked us for the story and away they went. Last time when we went to lunch at our restaurant we sat down to start our story, just as I said "Once upon a time..." a man sat down at the next table, slightly out of breath. "Have I missed the beginning?" He asked. I looked over to question what he was talking about and it was the man from before. "I saw you in the parking lot and had to hurry so that I wouldn't miss the beginning of the story, please don't let me interrupt." He said and waved his hand for me to continue. I told the story of the day, a little self-conscious because of the extra audience and when I finished he thanked me and my children again for letting him listen. Then his wife laughed and said "When our children were growing up they used to beg for stories and he would always read books. He would get upset because he didn't feel that he could make up good stories. He actually called his son and told him your first story. And was trying to remember every word of this story to repeat it to his son." I was totally flattered that he thought so highly of my stories. My children thought it was neat that he still told stories to his grown son. This started my children down the "When I grow up" train of thought. As we were leaving the man asked if we would be there next week because he had missed us the week before. Now, in addition to my children, there is someone else who wants me to go out to lunch on Tuesdays.
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