A 6th grade teacher handed out this study guide to her students. Redditor Dixichick13 corresponded with the teacher and determined that it was not a true or false quiz or a "find the incorrect statements" quiz. The teacher was unaware of any errors. How many can you spot? Link
On the island of Sodor in the Irish Sea, sentient locomotives carry passengers and cargo everywhere. Alex Knapp of Forbes watches a lot of the children's television show Thomas & Friends and has been trying to understand Sodor's puzzling economy. He's not pleased:
There’s clearly a bit of cronyism on the Island of Sodor helping to line the pockets of Sir Topham Hatt. Although reference is frequently made to elected officials such as a Mayor, Sir Hatt seems to be in charge of virtually everything on the island. In addition to running his own railroad, he’s often in charge of projects – like building a Search and Rescue station in Misty Island Rescue - that should properly be the purview of government. Indeed, the Island of Sodor bears no small resemblance to Boss Hogg’s Hazzard County, with Hatt seeming to own most of the businesses around and able to get the government to back those industries. [...]
For the most part, the freight trains on Sodor only haul one car at a time – occasionally, they’ll haul two. Even more inexplicably it’s not uncommon to see two engines being used to transport one freight car. This level of inefficiency is simply insane. The Island of Sodor isn’t that big. There’s just no reason why one engine can’t be used to haul multiple cars. The engine fleet of Sodor’s rails could easily be cut in half, at least, and its regular costs cut accordingly. Of course, this represents the economic danger in Sir Topham Hatt’s monopoly. Through Hatt’s cronyism, he’s clearly keeping trucking out of Sodor, making his rails the only place to turn for businesses that want to transport freight.
Link -via Jon Dube | Images: Clearwater Features, Warner Bros.
Got Diapers? Norway doesn't. According to news reports Southern Norway is in the midst of a massive diaper shortage. What's driving the shortage? No, not an increase in the birth rate. It's supermarkets offering deep discounts. Norway is one of the world's most expensive countries. However, supermarkets in the south trying to lure local customers by undercutting rivals on the price of "nappies" inadvertently made it profitable enough for residents of nearby countries to start trading in them.
You could take your baby out without first splashing on some perfume. But what terrible lessons about fashion would you be teaching your child? For refined people, it's considered proper to make sure that a baby is fashionably scented. Thankfully, perfumers Dolce & Gabbana have a scent designed specifically for babies:
Speaking about the company’s latest offering, which will go on sale later this year at the relatively modest sum of £28 for a 50ml bottle, the designer Stefano Gabbana said: “That familiar smell associated with babies will only be accentuated by this fragrance.” It will contain notes of citrus, melon and honey, all famously evocative of newborns, and will “pamper every little boy and girl”. The scent, which is alcohol-free, has been inspired by the “softness of baby skin” and the “freshness of baby breath”.
Anyone who has ever had a three-year-old can relate to this list. These problems are overwhelming to a child just learning how the world works, but oh-so-funny to his parents. I had a hard time picking out just a few examples, but here they are:
The car seat is weird.
He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”
He’s not allowed in the oven.
I picked out the wrong pants.
His hair is heavy.
His sleeve is touching his thumb.
The inside of his nose stinks.
The rest are just as funny. And then commenters provided even more reasons from their real-life experiences! Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Flickr user Shawn Econo)
Soul Pancake has a video series featuring the delightful character Kid President. He has a pep talk to encourage you to become less boring and more awesome ("You're gooder than that."). Robert Frost may have taken the road less traveled, but this kid will take the one that leads to awesome! -via Viral Viral Videos
Your dolls are elegant, cultured and, most importantly, modern. They do not want some ranch house that looks like something set in a bourgeois suburb. No. They want the Qabis Haus, Amy Whitworth's stately home that doubles as a coffee table:
The Qubis Haus draws inspiration from Bauhaus, Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. When the kids are gone, it is a sophisticated multi-level coffee table of birch plywood. When the kids want to play, it transforms easily into a doll house with the addition of slide-in wood and perspex panels.
You can view more pictures at the link.
A boy in Spain was dreading a planned parent-teacher conference. He had not done well in school, so he anticipated a bad outcome to the meeting. Fortunately, he came up with a brilliant solution:
Early on Monday afternoon the unnamed 11-year-old son of a Spanish police officer stationed in the north-western town of Xinzo de Limia sent a text message from his mobile phone to tell his father he had been kidnapped.
When his father phoned back, the boy confirmed the worst. He had been snatched off the street as he was putting out the rubbish, he said, and was locked in the boot of a car. He had no idea where his kidnappers were taking him, but knew that the car he was in was a blue Seat. [...]
It was only two hours later that the boy's father noticed the keys to a spare flat owned by the family were missing.
The child was soon discovered there and reportedly explained that he had been terrified by the prospect of his parents going to school to speak to his teachers.
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo (unrelated): francisco.j.gonzalez
Throwing
tantrums when not allowed to play video games ain't exactly a new thing
for parents, but there's a small twist in what the Yang family in Chongqing,
China, is facing:
Yang Yang (pseudonym) was at home playing video games all day last Wednesday. Unhappy that her son was gaming all day, as well as worried for his well-being, Yang's mother wanted him to take a break.
After a failed attempt by the her mother to get Yang Yang to relax, Mr. Yang became fed up with his son's attitude and barged into his room. Seeing his son's room covered with snack wrappers and empty soda bottles, Mr. Yang asked Yang Yang how long he's been playing. He flippantly replied "not long."
Angered by his response, Mr. Yang seized Yang Yang's keyboard and smashed it to the ground. Shocked and angry, Yang Yang gave his father a death stare only to be told by his father "The heck are you looking at? Time for Dinner."
As soon as Mr. Yang left Yang Yang's room, he locked the door.
Yang Yang, a man in his twenties, locked himself in his room, inside his parents house, for a whole night, refusing to eat or drink anything.
Eric Jou of Kotaku has the full story. See if you can guess who folded first: Link
Self-inflicted torture? Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno are the hosts of the Dutch TV show Guinea Pigs. Last week they explored what women experience (sort of) by submitting to simulated labor pains via electrodes, to the delight of the audience and women who administered them. The difference is that they only did it for ten minutes, and they did not simulate the actual birth. See the video (in Dutch) at Time. Link
Photo: Stephane Gilbert/The Gazette
Five-year-old Jacob was born with Type 1 Diabetes and needed a diabetes pump to survive. But as none of his classmates had one, he felt different and lonely, so mom and dad did something special:
"It broke my heart," [Jacob's mom Camille] Boivin recalled. She told him that all children have their differences, some wear glasses, others have braces or wheelchairs. There was one other adolescent in their region with a pump but no one his age.
While Boivin and Aumond couldn't get real insulin pumps, they figured an ink version would help assuage their son's solitude.
It had to be aesthetic and look like the real thing, Boivin said, so the couple searched on the Internet for an artist and found Bruno Oeuvray in Joliette.
"Jacob was thrilled. It was magical to see his eyes," Boivin said, her voice wavering with emotion. "Even today I have tears in my eyes."
Aumond's tattoo has a barbed wire string where the catheter would be attached to the pump, a visual reminder of painful injections and "having to pierce the skin several times of day for a drop of blood" that the condition imposes on patients. Boivin's tattoo catheter trails to her back where it transforms into an almond-tree branch with pink flowers.
"It's a symbol of hope for a cure one day," Boivin said of the almond blooms.
Charlie Fidelman of The Montreal Gazette has the story: Link | Camille Boivin's blog
The robot bows, and the little girl knows that the only polite thing to do is bow as well. But the robot doesn't ever stop bowing! This was recorded in Korea. -via Tastefully Offensive
A couple announced their expectancy to the family by way of wrapped Christmas gifts -four of them, which were building blocks that spelled out "BABY," with instructions to open them all at the same time. Shirley grasped the meaning of it all immediately, and now she says she's "Over the moon." We expect she will be a wonderful grandma! -via Viral Viral Videos
Does your little one have trouble tearing themselves away from the iPad to go potty? Not to worry. CTA Digital has created a product just for you. It is a potty chair with built-in iPad holder. Now you can hook their iPad, or your co-opted iPad, onto the potty for more uninterrupted play time.
The iPotty comes with a removable seat for easy cleaning and a attachable splash guard for boys. But wait ... there is more. The iPotty also comes complete with a plastic shield to help protect the iPad from contamination.
Truly what will they think of next.
