Many years ago, my niece came and spent the night at our house. She cooked us dinner—introducing our family to "hot dog boats". These are made by splitting a cooked hot dog down the center (as if it were a bun), filling it with mashed potatoes, and topping it with cheese. Yummy! They became a favorite of the children. A short while later, I grew tired of making them all pretty and cutting them up neatly for the children; so I added my personal touch: mashed potatoes topped with cut-up hot dogs and cheese. Instead of calling these "hot dog boats" I called them "shipwrecks". Going on 4 or 5 years now, hardly a week goes by without shipwrecks.
Okay, that’s the background of my story.
Tonight, we were having dinner. No, it wasn’t shipwrecks, it was baked potatoes. But Hyrum didn’t want chili and cheese on a baked potato--he wanted shipwrecks. Since we had some hot dogs in the fridge, I obliged. I nuked the hot dogs and mashed up a baked potato for him. Now, Hyrum is rather particular when he eats. He takes the time to neatly line up his hot dog pieces in rows across his smashed down pile of potatoes. Then, he takes bites, being sure to include a hot dog piece in each bite.
As he was preparing his shipwreck, he stated:
“You cut up six hot dogs!” I could tell he was still thinking.
He quickly added, “No, wait!”
More thinking. I smiled inside. I knew where he was going with this, and I patiently waited with giddy delight that only a proud parent who also teaches math could appreciate.
“You cut up three hot dogs!” he stated resolutely.
“How do know that?” I asked.
“I counted these parts,” he said, pointing to the end pieces. “This one and this one make one hot dog. These make two. And these make three.”
Deduction with wieners.
Awesome.
He goes to kindergarten in the fall.
Okay, that’s the background of my story.
Tonight, we were having dinner. No, it wasn’t shipwrecks, it was baked potatoes. But Hyrum didn’t want chili and cheese on a baked potato--he wanted shipwrecks. Since we had some hot dogs in the fridge, I obliged. I nuked the hot dogs and mashed up a baked potato for him. Now, Hyrum is rather particular when he eats. He takes the time to neatly line up his hot dog pieces in rows across his smashed down pile of potatoes. Then, he takes bites, being sure to include a hot dog piece in each bite.
As he was preparing his shipwreck, he stated:
“You cut up six hot dogs!” I could tell he was still thinking.
He quickly added, “No, wait!”
More thinking. I smiled inside. I knew where he was going with this, and I patiently waited with giddy delight that only a proud parent who also teaches math could appreciate.
“You cut up three hot dogs!” he stated resolutely.
“How do know that?” I asked.
“I counted these parts,” he said, pointing to the end pieces. “This one and this one make one hot dog. These make two. And these make three.”
Deduction with wieners.
Awesome.
He goes to kindergarten in the fall.
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