Getting excited about Molly’s recent enthusiasm for math, I asked Molly what she wants to do for a living when she grows up.
“I want to be a store stocker. I already told you that. I just like arranging things.”
Okay, so she wants to stock groceries for a living and do math for fun. It’s not the most practical choice, but I like that it’s full of clarity and passion.
I told Molly that I would put in a good word for her at Whole Foods in a few years if she still wants to be a stocker. I’ve done a couple of shifts in the store myself, and stocking case after case of kombucha is not easy work, but I think she’s up to it.
Molly has a surprising new form of entertainment while I drive her around in the car. She is doing a math self-assessment. For fun! Her idea, I swear! And this from a girl who was doing extra math tutoring just last year! You have no idea how happy this makes a dad.
Specifically, Molly is doing the official State of Texas 3rd grade math assessment practice workbook. It’s an old copy that she inherited from Claire.
Occasionally as we drive around, Molly will ask me to check her math.
Molly: “Dad, what’s 18 plus 7?”
Me: “I think you probably know that one. Do you have a guess?”
Molly: “Mmmmm… 25?”
Me: “Yep. Well played!”
I asked Molly what she enjoys about doing math for fun, and she just says, “I dunno. I just like it.” She did tell me me she does sometimes get frustrated by multi-step questions. I told her a little challenge can be a good thing. She nodded and kept plugging away at the workbook.
How this happened, I do not know. I guess the math tutoring worked! 🤷🏻♂️
Claire has recently discovered what she calls “aesthetic music”. I love that term! This is music that sounds cool and you can just chill to, as far as I can tell. Apparently, most of the time the genre of music involves a light electronic sound plus ukulele.
I’m not sure if aesthetic music is officially an official “thing” or just a term that Claire came up with. Claire says that her friend Olivia is into aesthetic music as well.
A cheap CB radio set has been laying around my house for a while. I got it free somehow; I don’t even remember.
But I thought it would be useful for keeping touch with the kids when we’re at an amusement park or hiking or during a zombie apocalypse or something. Plus I like the idea of non-digital, direct communication and just saying “Over and out” a lot.
Now living in a three-story house, I realized this radio may have a more practical use. When the kids are up in their bedroom on the third floor while I’m downstairs cooking dinner, it would be nice to just “radio” them that dinner is ready rather than marching up two flights of stairs (#firstworldproblems). I’m all for moderate exercise, but I go up and down these stairs enough already and would rather just “ping” them if I have a saucepan full of marinara sauce bubbling.
Finally, today I got enough AA batteries together to make this happen. Molly was really into the idea of using the CB radio! I always love her enthusiasm for things like this and going to see the goats down the street. I gave Molly a handset, and she marched upstairs to test it out.
Beep. “Red 2, the is Ranger 5. Come in.”, I said.
Molly’s voice crackled (yes, crackled!) over the air. “Red 2 here.”
I thought up these radio handles on the spot without a thought. I think “Red 2” was a reference to Star Wars? But Molly would eventually pick herself a new handle: “Alex 51244288”.
Red 2, aka Alex 51244288, acknowledging the readiness of breakfast.
We practiced saying “Copy that” and “Over and out”. Molly’s sweet little voice over the squealing over the radio was hilarious and sweet.
At dinner time, the true test came. I radioed Claire, who was upstairs doing ROBLOX (TODO). “Little Bird, come in. Are you there?” Little Bird was Claire’s handle, again made up on the spot without thought. Claire acknowledged the comm and came down to eat some slightly burned chicken wings and pizza.
At bedtime, the locations were reversed. Molly was downstairs. I radioed her from the third floor. “Red 2, report for bed.” “I’m on my way”, said Molly. She gave me a status all the way up the stairs and reported no major obstacles or intruders.
I think we are well on our way to avoiding unnecessary stair climbing and also maybe a short-lived apocalypse.
This is me in Roblox. This pic pretty well describes how I feel in that game. I’m just thinking “What is going on here?!” And then some random player wants to be my girlfriend. So weird (and, no thanks).
Molly and Claire are great tour guides. Molly is so patient and wants to show me the whole world! This pic is from Royale High, one of Mollys favorite games at the moment.
As a side note, Claire has been calling me “Bloxy Dad”. I call her “Bloxy Teen”. And Mollys is, somehow, “Alex”.
McG Kids 