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Here’s some more schoolwork. They asked for a pattern, and Alpha found one.

That’s my boy!

Tip: If you’re putting together a classroom assignment, aim for directions that are more specific rather than vague. Ask the question that you really want answered. “Describe a numerical pattern that you see.” might have been better than “What patterns do you see in the chart?”

If I were me, I would have gone with “All the numbers end in 0”.

We’ve been having a nice fall here. There was a chilly spell of about a week or so, but it’s been on the warm side since then.

One of the nice days was the day of the half-marathon. It was right near Lake Michigan, so we stopped by the beach after the expo the afternoon before the race. The weather in general was nice, but the beach was a bit windy.

To get to the beach, you have to go over a sand dune. It’s a moderately-sized dune, but big enough to be impressive to young kids. This is the view after climbing from the parking lot to the top of the hill:

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This is one of the first papers that Alpha brought home from school this year. I’m guessing it was when the teacher was reviewing the rules for the classroom.

I’m glad they start with the basics, although I wonder what rules 1-23 are.

But we discussed this rule at home and we had to amend it, or modify it. Because there are more things on which to stand that aren’t chairs. Like tables, or siblings.

Now in our home, the rule is no standing on anything that’s not the floor.

I reserve the right to update that rule as needed. Because I’m sure they’ll find a way around it (such as “I’m not standing – I’m jumping!”).

Or, How to Clean Your Tub Without Scrubbing

Some of you may recall that we had an iron filter installed.

In case you’re wondering how bad our iron was, you can peruse this photo of our bathtub.

I tried CLR without much success. Soft Scrub seemed to do a little better. No matter what I used, I had to do a lot of scrubbing and it removed much of the staining but not all of it. You may be wondering what the best product is for cleaning rust stains, not only from bathtub but also from sinks and other porcelain fixtures. The answer?
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It’s time for another quiz. Follow the conversation below, then answer the question after. Yes, I realize the topic of the conversation is several months old; just pretend you’re back in March of 2011.

W: Kate Middleton and Prince William have been together for 8 years and they’re getting married in April.
H: How’d they meet?
W: Art class or something
H: Let me guess – she would love him even if he weren’t a prince?
W: Yep.
H: And would you love me even if I weren’t a prince?

Quiz:
What answer should the wife give?
A. Well you’re certainly no prince.
B. I love you no matter what.
C. You’ll always be my prince.
D. Would I what?

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Some of you may have ignored this post when you saw that the title contains the word flowchart. But that would mean that you’re not reading this, so why am I bothering to explain that?

Here are two flowcharts that document how we possibly handle things here in our family. “Things” being the two most commonly-asked questions at dinner: May I be excused? and Can I have dessert?
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I’ll let you in on a secret that the US government doesn’t want you to know.

Babies sleep better on their tummies than they do on their backs.

The government, of course, pushes the Back to Sleep program, which is intended to deprive parents of sleep.

If you want to make the government happy, you put your child on his back in the crib.

If you want the baby to sleep well (so that you can get sleep), you put your child to sleep on his tummy.

The only problem is visit to the doctor’s office. During the check-ups while the baby is an infant, the doctor will ask how the baby is sleeping. This must be required by law or by the medical establishment, because they always ask. But the wording is up to the doctor.

This is one of the differences between an average doctor and a good doctor:
an average doctor will ask if you lay the baby down to sleep on his back, whereas
a good doctor will ask if you are aware of the Back to Sleep program (that babies should sleep on their backs).

Note the difference – the average doctor places you on the defensive (in the spotlight) but a good doctor places you at ease. Because if you’re like us and sleep the baby on his front, how are you to answer?

Plus, a good doctor will already know what you’re doing and won’t need to ask.
Does the baby have a misshapen head? Must be a back sleeper.
Does the baby have a bald spot? Must be a back sleeper.Must be a back sleeper.
Can the baby roll from back to front but not front to back?

You don’t need to directly ask which way the baby sleeps.

We have a good doctor now.

Note: if you want some interesting reading, go learn about the success of the New Zealand mattress-wrapping campaign. That’s a better way of doing things – investigate and then address the actual problem, rather than guess and pick something that opposes basic biological tendencies.