You Keep Using That Word...I Do Not Think it Means What You Think it Means

That is one of my favorite quotes from The Princess Bride -- delivered by Inigo after hearing "Inconceivable!" one too many times.

I found this today.

I just...sugarless Peeps.

Think that through.

Sugar-free Peeps.

The illogic...it burns.

I had the same reaction when I first saw sugar-free caramel sauce.

I mean, caramel is basically sugar, water, and milk.  "Caramelized," or the darkening that happens when you cook things, is mostly 'cause you've messed with the sugars in something.

Sugar-free caramel.

(For the record, neither is really sugar-free.  They are simply different forms of sugar.)

A Big Moment

Disclaimer:  Bodily functions ahead.

This may not strike anyone but Cat as a momentous occasion, but there you have it.

Elastigirl has had the stomach flu for the past three days.

She was not at school on Wednesday.

Yesterday, she came and had diarrhea twice within an hour, but although we called home, she was not picked up.

Today, when she got off the bus, she went to sit down and wait for the rest of the kids.

After a few minutes, she kinda rolled down onto her belly.

After that, she would not sit down.

She got up on her knees, and I noticed a tell-tale mark on her clothes.  She'd had a little diarrhea again but had mostly urinated.

But here's the kicker.

She was uncomfortable because of it.

In other words, she was aware of being wet and made uncomfortable by it.

Elastigirl has, for years, been able to communicate having had a BM (in a...um...less than conventional and less than...pleasurable...way), but the real obstacle to any kind of toilet training was that she just didn't seem to notice or care if she was wet.

Today, she cared.

Yee-haw.  :-)

Show, Don't Tell

That's an axiom in writing -- and one that I still sometimes struggle with (I tend to information-dump).

But if you read these lyrics, you have the perfect example of the concept.

The tents grew smaller as we rode away
On earth that tells of many passing days
The months of peace and all the years of war
The lives of love and all the lives of fears

There...that?

That is "show, don't tell."

I could spend five verses talking about the sad history of the place the caravan was traveling through, but a master lyricist can condense it all down to one line:  "The months of peace and all the years of war."

I am so jealous...I wish I could make words do that.

Playing Catch-Up

I know, I know.  I've been rather silent around here these days.

The fact of the matter is, the group of kids I have this year is keeping me on my toes -- and not in the drama-filled, losing-children kind of way of this time last year.  They are pushing me to create new activities to teach things I've never taught to a class before -- what a noun is, for example.

So until I get "caught up," you might do well to follow me on Twitter, where I'll post a few little updates each day.