Learning How we learn

It is fantastic to have a walking experiment in the human learning process taking place right in front of me. By watching Max I’m getting a chance to really think about how I learn or improve my own skills (and I do have skills, mad skills). My new theory is that we use a pattern of alternating effort to finally establish the right amount of effort for a given task. Let me explain.

Max had  a stellar day on Wednesday, in terms of his potty training. He spent the whole day accident free. He told me he needed to pee while we  in transit and he held the mighty torrent at bay until we made it to our destination. Oh, how that poor tree rues the day it ever crossed paths with his full bladder.

The following day we returned to an earlier, messier, stage of development, and as I cleaned up the latest puddle from Mr. sprinkles, I recognized this sort of temporary regression as one of his patterns. Whenever he has a breakthrough day in some aspect of his cognitive and emotional development, there is always a  followup day where he takes a few steps back.

The lesson I’m going to apply to my own life is that any task or skill cannot be defined by a single success. If something goes fantastically well once, but is much less impressive on the subsequent attempt, don’t get discouraged. By repeating the task again and again, you start to narrow the gap between your best success and your worse failure until you reach the middle ground competency.

(Short version:

1.Try, try again

2. Be prepared to suck occasionally.

3. Even when you suck, you’re getting better.)

ADDENDUM: This post brought to you by Roy, provider of delicious cheeseburgers. All hail Roy!

The Surly Dad award for worst fast food place goes to…

The McDonald’s at Hamilton Road and Highbury Avenue! Let’s hear it for this awful “restaurant”, folks!

Sure, there are a lot of fast food joints that are dirtier or less-maintained than this one. Actually, I’m wrong-there isn’t much worse than this. Grimy and cheerless in general. But what really sealed the deal and earned my disapproving look was the ‘funzone’. It is not meant for children to have fun, it is meant for people who hate children to cackle as fun goes into the room and dies. Other than one sad puzzle board, there is nothing appropriate for a child under 8.  Of course that’s hypothetical since the old lame video games in there were turned off, and there wasn’t a child to be seen for miles. This was at dinner time on a weekday, so there should have been a horde of tired parents looking to shovel quick food into themselves while the kids ran around like crazy pixies. Not one family was in sight (other than us, and we left when we saw how lame it was).

Oh, and the foosball and air hockey tables cost money to play.  The cash earned goes to Ronald McDonald house, so that’s not so bad, but it still stinks to have something that costs money inside the kid distraction area. Luckily, the air hockey paddles were nowhere in sight so even if we had put money in the table, there would have been no fun taking place.

Smart McDonald owners know how much return business they get from frazzled families looking for a little break, and the playland is a big part of that break. Steer clear of this place unless you’re really desperate.

Eat!Eat! You’re skin and bones!

I threw together a roasted pepper couscous salad yesterday that was pretty tasty, and was enjoyed by the little dude as well. Here’s what you need:

1 cup chicken broth (use vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian)

1 cup couscous

2 shepherd’s peppers, halved and cleaned

1 cup kale, washed, stemmed and chopped

2 cups of broccoli florets

1/4 cup sesame seeds

neutral oil (peanut, for example)

lemon juice

soy sauce

First, put the peppers on a baking sheet, and baste with a small amount of oil. Throw the sheet into a 425 degree Farenheit  oven. after 5 to 10 minutes, flip the peppers over. Take them out when the skin has darkened considerably.  Let the peppers cool.

While the peppers cool, boil the chicken broth, add it to the couscous, and cover.

In a hot pan (medium high heat), put a drizzle of oil in, and after a moment, throw in the chopped kale. Keep stirring the kale, and sprinkle some lemon juice on top. Take the kale out of the pan just as it starts to brown, and add it to the couscous bowl.

In the same pan, throw in the broccoli. Add soy sauce, about a tablespoon ( or more if you like soy). After a few minutes, no more than 5,toss the broccoli into the couscous bowl.

Back to the pan-throw the sesame seeds in and vigilantly watch them and shake them around the pan as they toast. They will toast very quickly so pay attention. Burnt seeds are very unpleasant. When the seeds have a nice golden hue, they go into the bowl.

Now that the peppers have cooled, peel the skin off and dice them. Add them to the ever popular bowl.

Last thing to do is mix it all together and serve. Add salt/pepper to taste.