Moodometer

Yet another contribution from our oldest, who wants to quantify EVERYTHING. Beginning to think we might have to start calling him "Numbers" Riktor, a Terry Pratchett character who thought you could count everything.

Anyway, today we're quantifying moods. The following is a "Mood Chart" that we have on the refrigerator. Almost every day, it's adjusted by the children (the oldest drives this) so we know, at all times, what mood everyone in the house is in. We all have our own individual magnets; mine is a block of magnetite.

I'm just grateful this is still the kid version, because I hear tell that the teenage model comes only in "surly" and "noncommunicative."

On this chart, my favorite is the "Uh Sure" block (lower left corner). The character's eyebrows are very expressive. "Smug," (first row, second from right) with the repeated raised eyebrows, is also a show-stopper.

Yo, Coach!

A few nights ago, we had a family game night done under the direction of our oldest son who was working on a Webelos Scout requirement.

He came out with a whistle on a string, a ballcap and this name tag, minus the scribblings of his youngest brother. He bossed us around pretty good as we played a fun game of backyard baseball.

This is part of our childrens' incessant need to label things. About a week ago, I was on the couch half asleep when I heard our daughter come up, babble something about "And here's Dad," she patted me, then left. I woke up later with a little masking tape label that said "Dad" on it. I see futures for them as ISO 9000 auditors.