When A Small Boy Is Suddenly Very Quiet...

March 28, 2013 by Rieshy
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Quiet-child-hunting generally reveals shockingly unauthorized messes, often involving make-up, paint, or Sharpie drawings on hallway walls.


Sometimes quiet-child-hunting reveals 
things even more shocking than massive messes...




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Three Times A Charm = Infinity

March 26, 2013 by Rieshy
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A few days ago I was reading a quirky little non-fiction math book, Life of Fred- Butterflies, to my 6 year old- lest you think I was torturing him, he loves this math series.   Along with Don Quixote it discussed cardinal numbers and then the cardinal number for infinity.

What?  Infinity has a cardinal number, wait what are cardinal numbers again?" were my panicky thoughts.  Math generally induces panicky thoughts in me that I must suppress with a stern self-lecture of, "I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer." -because quoting Dune makes me feel more mathy. 


Aleph-null is the cardinal number associated with the set of all whole numbers.  It is the smallest infinite number...  Not that I understand this, and we moved on to some other activity.  My brain was ready to flush the whole concept. Except a couple of days later I was standing in the library stacks waiting for my 6 year old to locate a particularly coveted bound compendium of Calvin and Hobbes, which weighs more than he does, when a book caught my eye:  The History of Infinity.

Wow.  The last math book I read, Innumeracy, merely explained how stupid I was and then laughed at me as it demanded I return my college diploma but as I don't tend to learn from my mistakes, I checked it out in full expectation that I will not actually finish it or understand more than 10% of what I do finish.

However, the the coup de grĂ¢ce on coincidence: my husband and I ran away from home for an evening of adulthood to hear The Atlantic Ensemble perform works by composer Lawrence Dillon.  One of the string quartets was Infinite Sphere and Dillon started the evening by quoting Blaise Pascal, "Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere."








Funny enough, this post replicated and I had to delete the extra postings out of Blogger...  I guess I really really need to read The History of Infinity.


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How Chess and Spit Go Together

March 21, 2013 by Rieshy
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If you dream of having classically educated children and picture them playing chess quietly, take notice:
my 5 year old likes to play "Chest".



Look at that pursed mouth, can't you just hear the spitty sounds?


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Living Statuary

March 16, 2013 by Rieshy
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We moved furniture around yesterday, apparently for the dog, and discovered perfect canine feng shui for his acrobatic napping habits.





 We own a dog... because my husband dislikes how cats walk about on furniture.



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Life From A Young Perspective

March 15, 2013 by Rieshy
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I had just pulled fresh hot sheets from the dryer.  My bedroom windows were open on this first warm day of the year when my 5 yo son sashayed into the bedroom.

"Can I help you make your bed?" he asked in an exuberantly loud voice.  He is the King of Clean and always on the spot to help; I think he must be a changeling.

"Sure thing Sweety."  I popped open the bottom sheet with a jerk.

My son grabbed the other side of the sheet from across the bed then stopped.  I looked up.  He had tilted his head to one side and with a soft, low, confidential and yet somehow encouraging voice he asked, "Did you wet your bed?"


Yep, he's my Sweety.





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Why I Love My Children and Ignore Them

March 7, 2013 by Rieshy
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I got up at 5 a.m. this morning to make coffee and found this note.



I laughed; I felt love for a young son who always wants a head-start on his school work, and who realizes that next to my coffee maker is the only logical place to leave me a note. Then I ignored it.

Just because I get up a 5 a.m. does not mean that I want the household up at 5 a.m.  Love is sometimes easier in a quiet house with a lonely cuppa joe.



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