Existential angst.

What do you do when your two pre-teens decide that they shouldn't have to do anything because "What's the point, we're all going to die someday?" (Not to mention the elder of the two saying -- "He [younger brother] is just going to die someday anyway, why can't I take him out now?")

That thudding sound is me hitting my head against the table.

Between that and the eight-year- old's rant this morning about how he wasn't going to watch Cartoon Network because gasp! they had developed a program for preschoolers... It turns out NIckelodeon is no longer acceptably cool because they run "Nick Jr."

(no subject)

My left knee is better today. I can hobble around, although extensive walking is still out. (We're not going to the beach or Great America today, for that reason, although we are driving to Santa Cruz to get ice cream from Marianne's. I know that's a long way to go for ice cream, but it's turned into a tradition this summer that we one day a week we go to the beach in Santa Cruz and get ice cream at Marianne's.)

The parental dilemma.

You want your kids to be inquisitive. So why am I annoyed by them turning the fan so that it points up so that they can see which things they can make airborne? So far: coke cans and towels yes, toys generally no, although if you stack a couple of Coke cans and put a small figure on top, the Coke cans will take the toy with it when they blow away. I put my foot down about water though, as it is an electrical fan. Fortunately, it has a good fan guard.

However, at least they're doing something. I wish I was in a better space, I could turn this into a teaching moment around wind.

[Edit: Kevin has discovered that if you place an empty plastic Easter egg on top of the fan, it will spin in place for a second before blowing away. Can any of you science geeks out there explain why this might be so, so I can impress him with my extensive (non-existent) aerodynamics knowledge? Also, he is experimenting with how baseballs spin when placed on top of the fan.]

Email woes.

If you are expecting email from me, sorry. I am having problems *sending* email, although receiving is not problem.