This 'n that

I didn't mean to say I could 'ear' and curved bill thrasher singing. I meant to type I could hear a curved bill thrasher singing. Of course.

It was a fine day today. I awoke a little bleary because I had a headache come on during the night so I took a Tylenol PM at 11:30pm. I don't like taking one so late but if I didn't I'd have paid for it all the next day. I awoke without a headache but slow witted - not the best trade but oh well. We takes what we gets sometimes.

During the night I got the mother of all leg cramps. Oooh, I haven't gotten one of those in eons. It was from the (evil) aerobic step class! Yet it wasn't in my calf or in my toes as I would expect, but along my shin bone. It woke me up and I didn't know what my leg was doing - it was such a queer sensation. At first I was all worried and wondered if I should get my husband, but I realized it had to be just a cramp. I was so glad I didn't wake him up about it. I got out of bed and stood up on my leg and if I placed my weight on the side of my foot by my pinkie toe, then it would relax. Finally I lay down again but it had such a strange feeling to it like it was holding energy or something. Next thing I knew, I guess I'd gone to sleep, because it was morning time.

This has got to be one of my most boring posts ever.

I do have something intelligent to add. My husband went to Cruces to drop off our son's bike which is broken. Whilst he was there he went to Barnes and Noble for me and bought a book I've wanted for some time. It's called Mindset - The new psychology of success. Now I have to say, I'm not keen on psychology. Psychologists I've known in the past have been some the most socially inept and off base people I've ever met. Why just last week our good friend who's recently divorced and facing a potentially nasty child custody battle was given expert advice from a family counselor that regarding his six year old daughter one of his options is to walk away. Yeah! This was professional advice from a guy with degrees! Incredible I said. Absolutely incredible.

So I give little credence to psychological mambo jambo. But this book I have is about growth mindset versus a fixed mindset and how intelligence can be grown. You teach your kids that when they're thinking hard they are actually forming new pathways in their brain! The author Carol Dweck says we should never tell our kids how smart they are. I must say, I do have an aversion to the fake perkiness of "Oh you're so smart!" Give me a barf bag. Instead, parents should praise a child's effort, hard work, focus, persistence. This helps develop a person who welcomes challenges rather than a person who thinks, "Uh oh, I need people to think I'm smart. Do I look smart? Should I avoid taking such-and-such course because I might not look smart in it?" I'm hoping to make a little curriculum out of it to use with our son. I've found an online groupity group who has similar interest.

Attitude counts. It counts for a lot. Ronald Reagan was a solid C student. I love that factoid. There is so much more to being a leader than top grades from a fancy-Dan Ivy League university (though I am not against Ivy League education!) and eloquent speech. Ron attended Eureka College - a little college near Peoria, Illinois. Praise the Lord.

Ronald Reagan had a growth mindset and I want our boy to too.