what I did on my summer vacation

We have emerged from the first day of school unscathed.

Christopher does have the math teacher who scandalized the entire Phase 4 Parent Body last year, so I'm expecting to see a massive packet of Math Olympiad problems later on today. Ed says every time they send home Math Olympiads I should send back my own Math Olympiads. Don't think I won't do it.

otoh, Christopher was utterly charmed by Ms. Kahl (I think that's her name). He reported every single one of her rules to me in detail, a serious look on his face. 'I like Ms. Kahl,' he said. 'She's nice.'

This reminds me of the goofy feminism of my youth. For a while there, everyone was talking about RAISING BOYS WHO LIKE STRONG WOMEN. Even though I was still childless & quite possibly husbandless at the time, I thought the whole thing was ridiculous. The implicit antagonism to boys got on my nerves.

Then I turned out to be the kind of mother who raises boys who like strong women.

When Christopher was 4 he came home from nursery school one day and said, 'Mommy, I like a girl. Jean.'

I wasn't sure who Jean was, so I asked another mom. 'That Jean,' she said. 'She's a bossy one.'





teach your son math and set him up for a happy marriage, too!

It's probably just as well. A few years ago John Gottman came out with one of his Key Factors determining whether a marriage succeeds or fails, and it turns out the Key Factor is how much the husband is willing to be 'influenced' by his wife.

85% of the variance in whether a marriage succeeds or fails is based on the husband's actions and attitude. John Gottman, PhD, discovered that successful marriages involve husbands who resist immediate negative reactions to their wives' concerns. These men increase the odds of having a happy marriage by allowing themselves to accept the influence of their spouse....

Clarke, a 30-year veteran of marriage, demonstrates these principles in a contribution to SecretsofMarriedMen.com. "When my wife asks me to do something, almost anything, my initial reaction used to be annoyance because I have lots of work to do, lots of things to do around the house, and lots of other bullsh-t reasons why not. However, most of what she asks me to do is actually quite reasonable, usually my responsibility, and I probably will end up doing it anyway. So, now I've trained myself to say 'yes' or 'no problem' as my initial response. This has contributed to less arguing and a better relationship."