Daily Ramblings

For the best, easiest homemade stock around, your freezer holds the key.

Saying Thanks

Recently, Luke (age 9) has gotten really bratty at times, like MTV-channel teenager levels of bratty. We’re trying to have a near-zero tolerance policy on it, so when he starts that up, we give him one chance to change his attitude. If he doesn’t, we send him to his room with a piece of paper, and he can’t come out until he has written down at least ten things he’s thankful for.  They can’t be ten things he wrote on a previous list; he continues each new list on the same sheet as the last one.  Then he has to read the list to us, and assuming we approve of it, the list goes on the fridge until next time.

Above is an image of one sheet from the lists. You can assume these each finish the phrase “I am thankful that” or “I am thankful for”:

the fact that I’m still alive

I have so much that I have to give things [away]

I go to school

I have food

I have a bed

I have a dog and 2 cats

I have the bible

I have disciplin [sic] (to which he added verbally, “well, sometimes”)

It’s almost Christmas

I have my own room

The next list continues:

I [am] not that sick any more

I scored two goals [in the] last soccer game

I have parents who made me write this

I have so much food that sometimes I eat to much [sic]

I go to church

I have friends

I have 16 days off

I have a nice teacher

(on back) I have grandparents

(on back) that Jesus was born

There are more lists but I’ll stop here.

Thus far, this has been surprisingly effective. He is usually in his room for 15-20 minutes before returning with the list, but afterwards he is in a noticeably better mood.

This makes me wonder: would this be effective for me to do when I am bratty or grumpy?

I think I may try it in 2014. It’s so easy for me to fall into a sarcastic, snarky, complaining attitude.  Life is crazy and stupid and frustrating in countless ways, and yet I have so many things for which I should be thankful. This sounds a bit like new age self-help babbling, I suppose, but after seeing it in my kids, and knowing I’m not much different in my own attitudes, it’s worth trying.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” For me, this year, I am going to work on better thankfulness for the good things in life.  And here’s a good place to start: thank you — really, you — for reading this blog, commenting on it, and joining me a little bit on this strange obstacle course called parenting.

I hope you and your family have a great 2014. Happy New Year!

——-

Hey look, it’s time for my annual charity appeal. The end of December is like Black Friday for nonprofits: on average, 10% of each year’s donations are made in the last three days of the calendar year.

and you can choose what kind of tree you want to become

just imagine cemeteries looking like this

life after death

From Debbie Sterling’s TEDxPSU talk, "Inspiring the next generation of female engineers." Sterling is the creator of GoldieBlox, a set of toys featuring Goldie, a female engineer who guides girls to develop problem-solving skills and build projects, introducing girls to the world of engineering through a tech-savvy female role model.

The results are in! After working tirelessly day and night, we present the results of the 'Breaking Bad - The Fate of Walter White’ survey. Check out the shiny charts and graphs above! Controversy abounds!

I just assumed everyone else assumed that Walt was going to die. Clearly, that is not the case as the numbers tell a different story. That said, if Walter does in fact die, the probability is that either Jesse or cancer will do the deed.

Here are some fun takeaways from Male vs. Female responses:

Females are significantly* more likely to think Walter will die.

Males are significantly more likely to name Hank as Walter’s killer and, interestingly, females are significantly more likely to name Skyler as Walter’s killer.

Males are significantly less likely to name cancer as Walt’s killer.

And some more cool results regarding age related responses:

The older the respondents are, the less likely they believe Walt is going to die (with some outliers).

All seven age groups have nearly identical responses as to whether Jesse or cancer will eventually kill Walter. The exception is with 18-24 year olds who, when compared against any other age group, are nearly twice as likely to believe Jesse, not cancer, will kill Walter.

*possible spoiler below*

After last week’s creepy as hell, episode ending scene between Hank and Walt, I’m curious as to how people might answer now? Is Walt going to knock off Hank? What say you? Discuss!

— and 64 other reasons why Hills is a badass

1. Wow, that’s a big stuffed rabbit

2. How much spare time do they HAVE?