Kiss My Knits!

Remember those shoes I posted about back in February that really needed to be replaced? I have finally replaced them. It’s such a little thing, but it’s remarkable the boost that I’ve gotten from just having presentable shoes.

And all it took was for the old ones to disintegrate. All hail the queen of procrastination.

Tomorrow I’ll get an early start on destroying the new ones – we’re planning on going to the Matthews Alive Festival. Should be fun!

Em has always had a hard time learning her multiplication tables. She continues to count on her fingers, which isn’t a great technique when you’re calculating, say, eight times eight in the middle of a math test. She can do it, mind you, but it’s slow and laborious and painful to watch. She gets frustrated when I try to teach them to her, and hiring a special math tutor at crazy dollars per hour didn’t do a whole lot to help, in my personal opinion.

Enter ice cream.

This year, the fifth graders are having an ice cream sundae party. Which multiplication facts you know determines what you get. Every fact group you have down pat earns another topping. For instance, knowing all your ones might get you the ice cream, all the twos might get hot fudge, and so on.

Let us never underestimate the power of bribery. As one of Em’s reading tutors said this summer, “I don’t work for free, do you?” Good point. It would seem that ice cream is exactly the reward Em needs. “I want to learn all my twelves!” she told me yesterday. Apparently when you learn the 12’s you get your choice of a special topping. Em likes salt and pepper on her ice cream, so maybe that’s what she’ll go for.

Last night we taught her that 12×6=72. This morning, she still remembered it when asked. This may seem like a small thing, but in the past the answers have always flowed out of her mind immediately. Remembering the answer to a multiplication problem overnight is huge for her. We started work on 12×7=84 on the way to school this morning.

“There is a piece of paper with all the multiplication facts on it and I’m going to fill them all in and turn it in for an ice cream sundae.” She says she’s already started, but wants to work on her 11s and 12s now. The party is in early October, so I think we have time to get this done.

We’re thrilled at this breakthrough. I’m sure that sundae will taste even sweeter for all the hard work she’s done.

I gained back about five pounds over the summer. Now, school’s back in session. It’s not oppressively hot. I’m not tied to the house. The weight is an unwelcome guest who came to stay during vacation. It’s time to say goodbye.

Today’s run wasn’t a stellar performance. It’s going to take a little time to get my mojo back, so I’ve been walking more over the last week. Today I started running again. My lungs let me know that perhaps I shouldn’t have neglected them so much over the summer. However, it still felt good to get out there again. I went along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, which I enjoy for the scenery. I didn’t push myself too much. When I saw a little green hummingbird zipping among orange flowers on a thin vine, I stopped and watched for a bit. Fitness isn’t just about body, its about mind, too.

Em’s favorite book right now is this little gem from 1974, How Babies Are Made. It has paper cutouts of plants and animals and explains how things go, even showing a cutout man and woman tastefully covered up in bed. It’s extremely straightforward and age-appropriate. She likes for me to read this to her every night and answer questions. She had a lot of questions at first, like “Does having a baby hurt?” I fudged the answer, telling her it is uncomfortable, but there are medicines you can take so it doesn’t hurt. Sayeth Em, “I want those.”

Other questions include “What if the father had the baby,” “What if the baby doesn’t want to be born,” “What if the baby could take the umbilical cord home and play with it,” “Is there a way you can make yourself have twins,” and this classic about sperm coming out: “Like poop?” I feel like we’ve pretty much got everything straightened out as to how reproduction takes place, at least as much as is appropriate for a ten-year-old.


And so, with that background in mind, Em’s take on human reproduction, starring a salt and pepper shaker.