Math vs. Magic

This morning, Grace and I had our very first subtraction lesson. Grace knows that I pack two cookies in her lunch for school, and this morning, she asked if she could have two cookies for breakfast. Knowing that she would be eating breakfast at school in less than 30 minutes and not wanting to condone cookie eating for breakfast, I decided to argue that if she had her cookies right then, she wouldn’t have any left for lunch. Being the clever kid that she is, Grace then asked if she could have just one cookie right now, but the problem was that she thought that if she had one for breakfast, she would still have two left for lunch.

So, I attempted some math with her. I told her that if she has two cookies and she takes one away, she will only have one left. I even used some toys that were on the coffee table to illustrate my point. She thought about this for a moment and told me that I was wrong, and that she WOULD still have two cookies at lunch even if she had one for breakfast. Hmm. I asked her how this could happen, and she looked at me like I had two heads and said, “It’s magic, Mama.”

Can’t argue with that, I guess. At this point, I used my mighty powers of redirection and got her interested in some pop tarts instead.

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So, we are at T minus 4 days until our reception, and the diet has gone just ok. I’ve managed to lose a few pounds over the past couple of weeks, and after discovering some very tasty and satisfying fiber bars at Target that I can snack on during the day (gotta love Target), I’ve been on the straight and narrow this week so far. (The only downside of these bars is that they are SO loaded with fiber that if you eat too many, you end up with some major intestinal problems later in the evening. Trust me…I found this out the hard way.) I’m hoping to lose a couple more pounds before Saturday so I don’t feel like a sausage in my wedding dress. Although, come to think of it, feeling like a sausage would fit in well with the German-style buffet that we’re serving at the reception.

And, I'm considering it a bad thing that I spent most of the afternoon at work today, during down time, munching on chocolate and listening to sappy Chicago songs. The stress must be getting to me...

"Just say you'll love me for the rest of my life..."