Category Archives: Mr. Boy

Webelos I

Posted on September 26, 2009 | Comments Off on Webelos I

Mr. B. is a rising Webelos Cub Scout now, and the first requirement is for a citizenship belt-loop. Part of it is to do a public service of some kind. His den decided to have a bake sale outside Sam’s Club and donate the money to charity. I had forgotten how long ninety minutes can be in retail, standing through most of it and smiling even when you don’t feel like it.

Lots of generous people, though. One woman gave the boys a twenty without taking even a cup of lemonade or a cookie or a brownie. So after the ninety minutes, when even the boys were dragging and begging to have it over with, we gathered up what goodies were left, counted out the $139.75 we had made and took it to the Austin Humane Society. We got a nice tour of a nicer and cleaner place than I imagined it was. I held my breath for the adopt a dog or cat request but it didn’t come. Whew.

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Removing labels from 2-liter soda bottles

Posted on September 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Removing labels from 2-liter soda bottles

Mr. B.’s fourth grade teacher wants empty 2-liter soda bottles for a classroom ecology study. Being a classroom parent, I didn’t stop at one Coke Zero bottle for Mr. B. but have plunged on to get more. The only hassle is the label. Most of it can be cut off, but it always leaves some where the glue is.

The glue comes off easy enough with WD-40, something I discovered years ago trying to get dried glue off fiberglass. But the label residue itself, ugh, what a pain. Scrape, scrape. Mrs. Charm suggested immersing the bottle in hot, soapy water. I even left it soaking overnight. Didn’t work.

This fellow managed it with slightly-cooled boiling water poured into the bottle. I may have to try it, though it sounds like a great way to ruin, or at least deform, the bottle’s thin plastic. If there’s a surefire trick here, I have yet to find it. Anybody have any suggestions?

UPDATE:  Have noticed several visits from folks seeking info on this subject. Therefore will add that I wound up doing in the neighborhood of twelve bottles and this process works best: cut off the label and spray the label residue with WD-40. Let it soak a while and then use a razor blade in a holder to scrape it off. Corner of the blade works best. Once the label is off, spray more on the glue, wait a bit and then wipe it off. Wash and dry the bottle to get the WD-40 off. 

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly

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Decimals

Posted on September 17, 2009 | Comments Off on Decimals

I figured when Mr. B. starts on algebra, either in late middle school or early high school, that my ability to help him with his homework would be at an end. I never understood it and have happily ignored it ever since.

Then Mrs Charm and I got into a mild dispute the other night trying to correct his math homework on decimals. We realized that neither of us was entirely comfortable with fourth grade math, nevermind the harder versions to come.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly

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The Little Emperor

Posted on September 16, 2009 | Comments Off on The Little Emperor

China’s experience with the unintended consequence of their one-family, one-child edict is quite amusing. We’ve struggled with some of that with Mr. B., of course, as probably any parent of an only child can attest. I took to calling him "your lordship" when he was a Terrible Two. But he’s improved.

Via the Seablogger.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Genealogy, Mr. Boy, Scribbles

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More on Mr. B’s MRI

Posted on September 16, 2009 | Comments Off on More on Mr. B’s MRI

The results are in and we have an early October appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon to hear what he wants to do. Mr. B., who is nine, has central precocious puberty, which is not uncommon in girls but rare in boys. Blood tests and ultrasound ruled out problems with the other pubertal hormone producers in his body. Leaving the pituitary gland at the base of his brain to be examined. Hence the MRI.

Indeed, it found a small lesion/tumor at the bottom of the gland apparently forcing the pubertal hormones early. His prediatric endocrinologist doesn’t think the neurosurgeon will want to remove it, but merely do another MRI in six months to check whether it’s grown. Monthly hormone shots for Mr. B. in the meantime (and for a few more years) of a type to reverse the condition until he’s the appropriate age, about thirteen. We hope the PE is right and not merely avoiding being the bearer of bad news. Doctors, being human, do that sometimes. We’ll know in October.

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Mr. B. on The Speech

Posted on September 8, 2009 | Comments Off on Mr. B. on The Speech

His fourth grade class watched the president on the television in their room. Nobody opted out. He thought it was pretty good but that it was way too long. "When it hit [fifteen] minutes, I thought ‘Time to wrap it up, dude.’"

Instead, he said, it went longer. It was twenty minutes long by most accounts, a long time for a kid to pay attention. Instapundit’s teenage daughter’s class, for some reason (unexplained), laughed at it. Mr. B.’s class consensus: they liked it.

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Barry’s schoolchildren chat

Posted on September 3, 2009 | Comments Off on Barry’s schoolchildren chat

It’s strange that a president would do this, especially during the school day instead of in the evening when kids are at home. But it’s probable it’ll just be boilerplate: "Stay in school, study hard, contribute to your world, etc." Austin schools, picking up on the scattered protests elsewhere, are telling parents they can opt their kids out, if they want. What will the kid do? Go wait in the hall until it’s over?

The schools already are plenty political. In Texas, as early as second grade, they teach global warming as a crisis, not a controversy. It’s made for some interesting discussions with Mr. B. I remember the schools trying to indoctrinate me and my peers with this or that bit of politics years ago. By high school, our b.s. detectors had become pretty sensitive.

Eisenhower was president when I was in elementary school. He famously preferred golf to almost anything else. His successor, JFK, was too busy with extramarital affairs to speak to us directly. But if either of them had wanted to, I’m sure the schools would have made arrangements for us to listen. Probably forced us to listen. There was no opting out in those days.

UPDATE:  Dan Riehl ponders whether Barry is uniquely unable to do this without controversy or if any president could do it peacefully anymore.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Obamalot, Texana

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