“Hint: Don’t tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort
—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.”
A continuation of my previously highlighted article about Praising kids and achievement in school and in life. This from an article in Scientific American: Mind.
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Canuck TV lovers have something to look forward to this holiday season, as TiVo is officially launching in Canada with the 80-hour Series2 DVR. HDTV watchers will continue to wait patiently, though, as no plans for Canadian HD products were announced…
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For the backstory to this post, read here.
Last Sunday we took the kids to the Santa Claus parade. It was their first time going, and as far as I can remember, I think it was my first time too. Anyway, at dinner that evening, the Linguist had a few questions:
the Linguist: Is Santa Claus real?
DW: well, what do you think?
the Linguist: Ummm… No. Yes! Well, but then who left those presents?
DW: who do you think?
the Linguist: Well, Santa. Wait, is someone just trying to trick me?
Me: no, no one is trying to trick you…
the Linguist: Well, someone could be pretending that there is a Santa… but then who wrote that note last year? There must be a Santa.
For the sake of her younger sister, we let the topic drop. I don’t think it’ll last much past this year, though. I’m not going to go to great lengths to preserve this particular Christmas myth… although it is kind of fun in a sort of devious way.
Rivals to Canadian provider Rogers Wireless are dramatically lowering the prices for data access as a defensive measure against the iPhone even before the device is announced for the country, according to a new report by the analyst firm Seaboard Group. A comparison of the access rates required needed to download 1GB of data shows a dramatic drop in prices even since this summer. click thru to read more.
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I’m tired today. Mostly because Saturday night I stayed up late working on my Sunday message. But also because last night our oldest had one of the most intense night terrors we’ve ever experienced. She’s always been prone to sort of lucid dreams, where she’s suggestible and you can talk with her while she’s asleep. But last night was different.
I was awakened at half past eleven, just as I had drifted off (I hate that) with a very loud “Daddy!” coming from our kids room. I bolted up, and went in to see what was the matter. The Linguist is tossing and turning, saying, “No! Daddy! It’s not right!” and things like that, in between crying. They say when a child is having a night terror that you shouldn’t try to wake them. But I forgot that, and I tried to talk to her, at one point even sitting her up to try to rouse her, which only got me into more trouble. She began to push and punch, and kick. Yeah, it was fun. All while screaming at me. In her sleep.
Worried that she’s woken her sister up, I looked over to see the Comic sleeping away, ignoring the whole thing. Not for long. By the end of the whole episode (which lasted an hour) she had gone to our room to sleep. Smart girl. 
I tried to cut my losses and I gave up trying to comfort the Linguist since nothing I was doing seemed to be helping, so I informed her I was leaving, and went back to my room. “Go!” she screamed at me, as I walked down the hallway.
Of course, my DW was completely awake by this point, having heard all of what my daughter had been screaming. She was justifiably shaken and concerned. It’s the middle of the night, I wasn’t thinking clearly, and my daughter is just short of screaming obscenities at me, if she knew any of those words.
She was still sobbing/crying as I lay there, trying to think of what to do. Suddenly she yelled, “This doesn’t change anything, I’m still mad at you!” I sank lower under my covers, and my heart did the same.
A few minutes later, she was still sobbing, but not screaming anything, and I ventured back. I had to do something. She’s mad at me for something I’ve done, so I guess the best thing to do is to own up to my wrongdoing and apologize. “I’m sorry. Daddy’s sorry. I love you. I love you” is what I ended up saying, over and over. I started patting her back. When the Linguist was a baby, I would always say “I know, I know” as I rocked her and patted her, so I thought perhaps this might calm her, or reach her somewhere at a deeper level.
She began to settle down, and reached for a Kleenex to blow her nose. When she started complaining about her nose, I knew she had come out of the dream. I helped her with the Kleenex, and then she looked at me. I gave her a kiss and a hug, and she said, “Mommy…”
I went and got her what she wanted. Can’t argue with that. She was finally settled, at 12:35AM.
In the morning, when the Linguist woke up, I asked her if she remembered having a bad dream. She nodded, and I asked her if she was still mad at daddy.
She looked at me, and said, “No, that was a long time ago, and besides, since then, I got another writer!”
“Oh,” I said, “you got another writer? What did they write?”
“It was lines, and then wavy lines, and then some different shapes in between. I was mad at you because you didn’t do it right, and then you refused to write any more!” she said.
“Oh dear,” I said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok, it was just a dream!” she said.
I think it’s a sign. She’s going to grow up and be an editor.
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