Just Starting the 15-Year Trough

Here's the most validating graph I've seen in a while from my latest issue of Science News. WB stands for well-being, so the higher up the dot on the graph, the happier the people feel at that age. Hundreds of thousands of people were surveyed in this piece of research to show that we all start getting progressively less happy as our 30's wear on and don't recover until after we turn 50. My main two reactions to the graph were:

Oh, good, it's not just me!

Ha! Duh! Those are the years that we raise our kids!* ; )

But seriously, the youthful enthusiasm and raw ambition of my teens and 20's has given way to the realization that all of my dreams might not come true, the burden of the giant mortgage, the whirlwind of being a working mom, the appearance of spider veins and cellulite and more and more gray hair, the loss of my physical energy, professional burnout...OMG, I think I'm having a mid-life crisis! Send me a red convertible corvette, stat!

And what's the next step? Turtle as a tween and teen (ugh!), caring for aging parents, increasing responsibilities, less personal freedom and time...I can see how this dip lasts 10-15 years before you can get your head above water and look around after 50 with a whole new attitude.

The cool part is that the end of the graph is so hopeful! We end up even happier than we ever were in the beginning! Or perhaps we just finally learn to really really really lower our standards? Either way, who cares, we feel better! I'm looking forward to that...

*Speaking for those of us who entered parenting in our mid-30's...

Have it Your Way

So we're stooping to McDonald's take-out for dinner tonight and Daddy asked Turtle what he wanted to order and Turtle said:

"I want a cheeseburger with no cheese."

What the beep?!

(Photo credit: http://www.powerpath.com/images/products/lg_jaaudioscreening.jpg)

For his 4 year check-up, Turtle did his first auditory screening. The nurse told him to put on the headphones and raise his hand every time he heard a "beep". Facing him away from her, she began the test, pushing buttons to ring different tones in his headphones at random intervals. We sat nervously watching her push the buttons and watching him not respond at all.

Gulp.

She took the headphones off of him and tested them on herself to make sure they were working and then gave us a quizzical look as they were working just fine.

I thought for a moment, then turned to Turtle and said "She wants you to raise your hand any time that you hear anything at all. Not just beeps."

The test resumed and he raised his hand for every tone she sounded. Whew.

That's our boy- taking his instructions very literally. The tones didn't sound like "beeps" to him- beeps are high pitched short sounds- so he didn't raise his hand. The kid thought he had to discern between beeps and non-beeps and was very proud that he was doing just so.

And a lesson to the nurse, us as parents, me as a teacher, and to caregivers and educators working with children everywhere...you have to really think about what you are asking someone to do and who your audience is and be very explicit with your instructions as they are easily misunderstood. If we hadn't been in the room and I didn't know my son so well, he would have been red flagged for hearing difficulties all due to a miscommunication.

St. Patrick's Day...More Than Meets The Eye

Turtle this morning: "Mom, all of us have to wear green today or else the decepticons will pinch us!"

Hmmm...whole new mental picture of St. Patty's Day:

Ouch! Really don't want to be pinched by them!

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