Linking up again with Emily P. Freeman for her quarterly What We Learned feature...
1. When looking for items on the top shelf of the fridge, instead of standing on my tiptoes, it's easier to stoop and look up through the bottom of the glass.
I picked up this tip from my kids; they can spot things before I can this way.
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| Cute Patootie Wyatt |
2. Our swim teacher from last summer is also a counselor at a crisis pregnancy center.
And this explains her caring nature and her heart for kids and teenagers. It warmed my heart when I found this out.
3. Kids are supposed to be able to make the "k" sound by age four.
When I researched and discovered this, I finally realized why a few people had expressed concern about Lizzy's speech patterns. A few months later, she's in twice-weekly speech therapy sessions at the local college and pleased that she attends university before her siblings.
4. Caleb doesn't know the alphabet.
Another significant teacher/mom fail. Why isn't he learning to read?? Oh... the lack of understanding letters could be a factor in that. So, a couple months ago we scrapped the "learn to read" program and restarted with a "learn the letters" program.
Let's start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
5. March is a good time to try out a whole bunch of new recipes.
Middle of Little League season; not so much. End-of-school crunch? Nope. But March.... when all the world seems to go on its muddy way as it always has been, time without end... yes. Good time to go crazy and try every recipe you've pinned the whole rest of the year. And it pays lasting dividends in the form of new favorites, even through Little League busyness.
6. It's "20,000 leagues" forward, not deep.
Also in March, I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for the first time, having assigned it to Jeddy for a book report. I always thought that measurement referred to how deep the submarine went (I had no idea how big a league is in relation to how deep the ocean is; thank you, Wikipedia; now I know the ocean is nowhere near 20,000 leagues deep). It actually refers to the length of the journey Aronnax travels while under the sea.
Also, giant squids figure in the story much less than I expected, considering every cover of every edition, plus the posters for all the movies feature them.
7. Short story collections are a great way to read without getting so sucked in that I can't put it down to feed my family.
...which some members of my family think is a definite drawback to my reading hobby. The librarian recommended Jeffrey Archer's short stories to me, and I polished off A Twist in the Tale and To Cut a Long Story Short over spring break, enjoying them very much, and no one went hungry or wore dirty underwear because of my negligence.
8. Competitive Scrabble is a thing.
I owe this knowledge to a lovely (adult-ears-only) grammar podcast that Jeddy can't believe I like to listen to while I run.
Lexicon Valley episode #6 is all about competitive Scrabble: the strategy, the experts, the juicy controversies.
9. If I drink coffee I can drive in the afternoon.
This, along with #12, actually falls under the heading of Really Useful News.
It has long been settled science that I am absolutely useless as a driving partner after lunch. I can take the 3am shift, the 6am shift, the 10pm shift; but don't put me behind the wheel at 2pm unless you want to meet the guard rail. Or, as inevitably happens, I pull over after thirty minutes, gasping and apologizing and rubbing my eyes. 2:00 pm is my weakness, rivaled only by the somnolent effect of being in a moving car. Asking me to drive a car at 2pm is hopeless.
But! When we took our trip to Washington, D.C., perhaps due to the heightened sense of being solely responsible for four children on an absurdly optimistic enterprise, I had the bright idea to get in the car that afternoon with a mug of coffee.
Being also absurdly sensitive to caffeine, I planned to only drink half a cup, but I guess I got carried away. I might have had three quarters.
And I cruised into the city twitching and wiiiide awake.
On a more recent afternoon trip, I thought (foolishly) I could function like a normal person and drive a car after lunch. Predictably, it became painful to keep my eyes open and remain in my own lane. I found a rest stop vending machine that dispensed low-quality coffee, drank a small cup down, and--presto!--problem solved.
Maybe functioning like a normal person requires drinking coffee like a normal person. Hmm....
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| From aforementioned "learn the letters" program. "L" is for "llama with glued-on fur." |
10. Barry Manilow wrote the State Farm jingle.
"How to Do Everything" is another podcast I'm fond of, and as it's pretty family-friendly, the older kids have gotten into it too. I'm indebted to How to Do Everything for #10 and #11 on this list.
Also, I was thrilled to hear an interview with Barry Manilow. I think I'm mostly thrilled that anyone else besides me knows who he is.
11. Penguins have really long legs.
Who knew?
The lady interviewed for "How to Do Everything: Chips, Penguins, and Spy Planes" explains that penguins actually have long legs, but their belly skin covers so much of their legs that they have to walk like a woman wearing a long, tight skirt.
I know the feeling. At least they're not also wearing platform heels.
12. Dried beans are really easy to fix in the crockpot.
Useful discovery number two this season. Dried beans don't have to be intimidating, or complicated. Put some on the bottom of the crockpot, fill the crockpot with well-salted water, turn it on low after dinner, and you'll have beans for lunch the next day. Or start the process after breakfast and cook it on high until dinner. As long as there's lots of water, crockpots and beans are pretty forgiving.
What did you discover this spring?
*The Sound of Music, "Do-Re-Mi"
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