There are a couple of funny stories that I wrote down on Facebook, which I neglected to record here, so I will put them here as well. The first is from two weeks ago when Alexander couldn't live without his emergency paperclip supply. He took a paperclip to co-op. He took a paperclip to church. He had to have paperclips on him at all times!
Alexander: See this paperclip? I can use it to unlock the bathroom door! So if it ever gets locked with nobody inside, I can be the one to let people in!
Me: Well, hopefully that won't happen *too* often.
Alexander: Yeah.
*****Later*****
Me: *knock, knock* Hey, who's in the bathroom?
Bathroom: ...
Me: Nobody. Okay.
Alexander, brandishing paperclip: I can fix that.
Me: Thanks, buddy. Hey, are *all* the bathroom doors locked?
Alexander: *looks sheepish*
Me: Okay, how about we unlock all the bathroom doors and use the paperclip only in case of actual emergencies. We don't need to fabricate emergencies, okay?
Alexander: *walking around wearing a necklace of paperclips*
Me: Huh. Nice necklace.
Alexander, patting his necklace: For emergencies.
*************
The second story is about Zoë and her growing desire for it to snow. So far she understands that when the temperature drops to a certain level it can snow. Unfortunately, in her mind this "can" translates into a "should" and she's left wondering why it should be snowing...but isn't. And that's because our winters tend to be somewhat dry compared to our summers. With no precipitation on the radar, it's hard to make snow...even when it's technically freezing outside (I think we've had one day of freezing temperatures so far this winter).
Anyway, around 10:00 one evening not too long ago, Zoë came up to me to ask about how temperature affects water.
"Mom, what is the point of freezing water?" she asked.
"Ummm...to get ice???" I said. "Now, go to bed for real, please."
Zoë sighed and slumped her shoulders. "Okay," she humphed before shuffling off to bed.
She tiptoed into my room a few minutes later, however, since my answer had evidently left her unsatisfied.
"Ah, You're back."
"Yes, I know, and I will go to bed for real, but you didn't really answer my question because I think I meant to say 'the freezing point of water.' I know what the point of freezing water is, but I'm not sure on what the freezing point of water is."
That is an important distinction and fair, I suppose, for her to ask her question a second time.
"Okay, so it's zero degrees in Celsius, which makes it really easy to remember. It's a little trickier in Fahrenheit, but I think it's right around 30° or so. Ummm...I think...32 sounds about right. Let me see..."
I had to look up what the freezing point is in Fahrenheit, just to be certain.
"Yup. 32°F is the freezing point of water."
"You had to look that up?!"
"Yes! I didn't grow up with Fahrenheit. I have to look things up all the time! No shame in that. Don't even ask me what the boiling point is in Fahrenheit!"
"What's the boiling point in Fahrenheit?"
"Ugh. Something random. 200-something. 210? 212? See, look—it's 212. It's an easy 100 degrees in Celsius!"
"Okay, well, tomorrow our low is 36°F, so that's getting pretty cold, but not so cold that water will freeze."
"Yeah, not quite cold enough for that."
"So it probably won't snow?"
"Probably not."
"Okay, good night for real."
"Good night for real."
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