Amongst the things the ten year-old does not want to do for work when he grows up: drive, collect trash, or promote cigarettes. Things he would consider include bicycling to collect trash, designing ads for things like peace and designing yo-yos.
Also, the ten year-old would like a better explanation as to the imperative to learn long division. Actually, it was this that brought us to the career conversation, because I said perhaps there are jobs that require long division. Or maybe just one job—all I could imagine was something along the lines of molecular science, where there’s divisible splitting of invisible entities. That’s about like saying I have no idea about the need for long division; I can barely remember what it is, much less how to do it.
Math I can share, though, is two snow days bookending two weekend days equals four days off from school. That’s time four kids so I am pretty sure it’s like 16 days home from school.
A parentheses part of the equation is one newly minted five year-old with a fifth birthday party for a gaggle of adorable kids (gaggle is nowhere near Googolplex). Truthfully, it was a lovely gathering. There’s a sweet spot to this age, in that parents hang around the birthday parties but no longer are required to do much heavy lifting so the party really functioned like two parties or a party within a party, one for the kids and another for the adults. Preschool teachers would describe this as a form of parallel play.
Had I really considered the number of RSVP’s I’d have made a second cake. But there you go.
This week I am grateful for the aforementioned five year-old and her three brothers, even after all the snow days (but I am grateful for school in nearly equal measure), and for heat through the storm—and electricity and all that good stuff, and for the freakishly addictive experience that is Season two of Homeland. About halfway through, I find it difficult to think of much else.
But I do have three links, because it’s Tuesday.
This link that reveals how much money people make block-by-block in any neighborhood in the country really may be the most intriguing find of late.
This ditty on what we think NPR folks look like versus what they actually look like is just so much fun.
And this song You Tubed by Lennon and Maisy Stella (the daughters on Nashville) salvaged my snow day post-headache but pre-bed.
The reason I didn’t include a link about Monday’s huge Papal news is that I’ve long known what would happen if ever there was an opening; my stepfather has been interested in running for the job pretty much for as long as I’ve known him. He thinks the wardrobe would be comfy and the art collection pretty sweet. My mother will come along—as Popette. I’m not sure why the New York Times hasn’t done a feature. There’s a little time, though.
PS: Wednesday is the last chance to vote in the Valley Advocate’s Best Of Poll—you can vote for Standing in the Shadows as Best Local Blog in the last section of categories. Full disclosure, for your vote to count, you have to vote for ten different things (or me, plus nine). And if you do cast a vote for this blog, thank you!
