This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Aug
1
2017
I am without a laptop at the moment. Which means I don’t have some of my already-started posts on hand to complete. Which means all you get is what I can type on my iPhone. Which is this, today.
But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one.
1 Corinthians 9:15
Jul
27
2017
Yes, I know it’s 2017. But I never wrote about the book I read during our vacation last year, so here it is:
The Collapse of Parenting by Dr. Leonard Sax
I’ve written some about his other books before. If you’ve read and enjoyed those books, then you’ll enjoy this book too. Maybe enjoy is not the right word – appreciate maybe. Because the picture he paints is bleak. It’s a book of warning – kids aren’t doing a good job of growing into adults because the adults are not doing a good job of parenting them.
Here are three main thoughts I had while reading this book:
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
Judges 2:10
Jul
25
2017
In the last month or three, we had the announcement of the 2017 NFL schedule. Now that we know who will play whom and when, we can start predicting wins and losses.
I keep my predictions over at Some Fun Site. View results of previous football seasons.
How they actually did was
Kind of close, but not that great.
Jul
20
2017
I took the family to watch a local theater production of Fiddler on the Roof. We also happened to be discussing basic math around the same time, so I came up with the following song. I didn’t bother to put it into sheet music form – if you don’t know the song well enough to sing it in your head with these new words, then you wouldn’t appreciate it anyway.
Who, day and night, must add up numbers quickly,
Scaling up summation, by a common term?
And who has the right, as dear Aunt Sally says, to go first in the operations?The product, the product!
Multiplication!
The product, the product!
Multiplication!Who must know the way to split the numbers up, in equal parts, in kosher parts?
Who must use long form to get the answer right, to get remainders to cooperate?The quotient, the quotient!
Division!
The quotient, the quotient!
Division!If you want to combine numbers but don’t want to count up,
Just use the plus sign in your math; it makes things easy.The sum, the sum!
Addition!
The sum, the sum!
Addition!And who does the equation ask to count backwards,
Comparing the two numbers, to find the space between?The difference, the difference!
Subtraction!
The difference, the difference!
Subtraction!
It mostly fits, except that tradition is three syllables and multiplication is five. It works great with division, addition, and subtraction. If you know of any 3-syllable word that means “multiplication” and rhymes with tradition, please put that in a comment.
I wasn’t trying to put the 4 terms in the order of operations, but it worked out nicely that way. What I did was tried to fit the math term with the closest-sounding original word. I think I started with “the sum” matching up with “the son” and then I matched “the product” with “the papa”, then “the difference” with “the daughter” because they both start with D. That paired “the quotient” with “the mama”, which doesn’t really match but there was not much of a choice left.
Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
1 Corinthians 11:2
Jul
18
2017
There are an increasing variety of things these days that are not appropriate for kids. For the purpose of this blog post, I’ll focus on movies, but it could apply to other things, such as any TV show being made now or a number of books or songs.
I have heard some people justify taking their kids to things they shouldn’t, or producers justifying inappropriate content in what should be an innocent show, by saying that it will just go over the kids’ heads.
In other words, they won’t understand it, so it won’t hurt them.
How do you think kids learn things?
If you do that enough – take kids to things that go over their heads – eventually they will catch on. The basic concept of education is something like this: 1. present new material, 2. explain it to the students, 3. see how well they understand it.
By having things go over their heads, you are not keeping them out of harm’s way; you are introducing them to the new material. You are starting the education process. So you think it’s okay because you’re skipping part 2? That just leaves them to form their own conclusions about why the adults are laughing.
Kids are kids for only a short time. Don’t make them grow up faster than they need to, just so you can have your entertainment. What will matter more for eternity: that you were amused for a few minutes or that you let a child be pointed in the wrong direction morally?
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
Mark 9:42
Jul
14
2017
Here are some handy tips if you decide to run for exercise (or any other reason, I suppose):
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Matthew 23:24
Jul
11
2017
If you’re going to be doing anything significant with a socket set anytime soon, here is a tip for you:
All ratchets become torque wrenches at some point.
It’s just not calibrated.
In fact, one of my sockets – the actual socket, not the ratchet – broke while I was trying to remove one of the Buick’s calipers. The bolt wasn’t budging, so I tried the breaker bar and with much exertion, the bolt started to move. Or so I thought. The movement was that socket rotating because it was now larger than the bolt. The bolt, of course, was stubbornly not rotating.
And I had two other ratchets give up on me when I pushed them too hard. When the ratchet makes clicking noises in both directions, you have problems.
So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.
Genesis 24:49
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