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Math is hard

One of the things The They don’t tell you is that as a parent you get to repeat school. You repeat it once for every child you have. I find it interesting to watch little minds grow. Concepts that are reflexive to us are foreign to them.

Today I wrote the number 1943 and asked Noah watch place each number occupied. 3, ones. 4, tens. 9, hundreds. 1, thousands. Then I added 1943.5 and asked about the 5. "That’s the oneths. No. Tenths." Good. So I added a 2 making the number 1943.52 and asked about the 5. "That’s the hundredths. The 2 is in the tenths." Hmmm. I add 7 making the number 1943.527 and asked about the 5. "The 5 is in the thousandths."

I started over putting only the 3 and he correctly identified it as the ones place. When I added the 4 for 43, the 3 remarkably remained in the ones place. Using this knowledge and some diagrams I think Noah finally got it. He correctly identified the 1/10s, the 1/100s places and so forth. Still, I think some reinforcement is in order.

I enjoy being a dad. I enjoy helping minds grow.

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We each walk our own path; even if it is a well worn path

My teenage daughter frustrates me so much. Why as teens do we do such stupid things? The irony is I acted much like she is. I retreated emotionally at her age. I silently screamed for notice and became angered when no one answered, when no one read my mind. That was ok. I knew everything. I didn’t need them! I cut ties to friends and family. I made mistakes and I seem helpless to stop her from making the same mistakes.

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Respect to the Mommy Bloggers

In the brief times that I solely try to simultaneously watch and keep Evan happy in the name of giving Cathy a break I have accumulated dozens of half finished draft blog posts. How do you guys do it with infants, toddlers, and other assorted rug rats?! On top of producing great content for our reading pleasures, the Mommy Blogger Brigade tends to the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the children and even squeeze in time to clean house, cook, and in some cases work a job or two among all the other varied things on their calendars. Amazing! I salut the Mommy Bloggers!

I’d say more but Evan wants me to be a jungle gym for a bit…

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Are your ports blocked?

Many ISPs, particularly residential, block ports to control traffic or protect their users. This means that if you want to run a webserver from your home and your ISP has blocked port 80 then you have to jump through some hoops to make it happen. How do you know if port 80 (or some other port you need) is blocked? Use the Can you see me? service.

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From the mouths of babes

Dad, point out some studs in the house: "Noah, what are these for?"
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."

You know, kicking expensive phonographs always helped in these circumstances…

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CORRECTION: TN Does Not Separate Church and State Either

Earlier I posted that Arkansas does not allow Atheists to hold government office nor testify as witnesses. I went on to suggest that TN had been out done in their efforts to live backwards by legislating beliefs and morals. I was wrong. Per Article IX Section 2 of the TN State Constitution.

Section 2. No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards
and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this
state. [Source]

As a matter of fact, religion [implied Christian] is so important to the state of Tennessee that Article IX Section 1 specifically excludes ministers from holding office since their duties are far more important.

Section 1. Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated
to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great
duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any
denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature. [Source]

Arkansas and Tennessee are in good company. Apparently, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas all require the believe of a supreme being and/or afterlife and in some cases you must specifically be a Christian to hold office or be a witness.

So, not only are Atheists going to Hell (a place they don’t believe exists) but they cannot hold one of the most corrupt jobs known to man for which they would go to Hell anyway.