There was an article on HuffPo recently about how American parents are Doing It All Wrong because Korean children eat their vegetables and don't snack in between meals, and French children have perfect manners, and Finnish children have more recess time, and Japanese children cosleep until age 10. And was it the Swedes who let their 5 year-olds play with knives?

Well, now I know to bet on the Swedes when it comes to Kinder Thunderdome.

My kids put themselves to bed, kinda, from a young age. We would go in and tuck them in, give kisses and "I love you"s. But story time got cut once they could each read - they preferred to look at books on their own. And CJ perferred listening to classical music to fall asleep. Once each figured out how to do this on their own, we were dismissed.

There were plenty of nights where I struggled with the choice of letting them read late into the night or yipping at them to turn out the light and go to sleep.

Twenty-Two puns. My work is done today.

Can you do Wonderfalls tomorrow?

That's the problem with a high bar, punster!

Jesse, "tract" is the word I needed, thanks!

So far, the problem is that the census tells me the population of a tract, but not the boundary streets around a tract.

I could extrapolate for neighborhoods within the tract, but at the moment, I'm eyeballing the boundaries in a way that makes the data pretty iffy.

#feargullo

I ♥ Tom Scola.

Can you do Wonderfalls tomorrow?

Some people are never satisfied.

Dang, Gud.

And then once she was all suited up for bedtime, she didn't even want to read or rock, both of which she usually enjoys (and I do too); she just wanted to be put in her crib, so I didn't get to help calm her down. I kind of feel like she just slammed the door on me and told me to "get out, Get Out, GET OUT!"

She kind of did, but that's a good thing! She's learning. In the end, you want to raise a capable, confident person, you know? But I totally get how hard it is to listen to, and freely admit I haven't had to do it in a long time.

Aw, thanks, Amy. I know what you mean, and I do think in the long run it's a good thing that she's learning to be more capable and independent. All the same, I was really gratified that she let me get in some good snuggles this morning.

So, in other news, I just found out this morning that a friend who just moved to town last year to start a job at a local school library is leaving the school, so they're looking to fill her position. I found this out from a mutual friend, not from the friend who's leaving. I really want to apply for this job, but how weird would it be for me to email the friend who's leaving and ask her about it, since she's not the one who told me? I am also genuinely sad that she's moving away again, since I like her a lot, and I don't want to seem like I'm celebrating the fact that she's leaving.

I really want to apply for this job, but how weird would it be for me to email the friend who's leaving and ask her about it, since she's not the one who told me? I am also genuinely sad that she's moving away again, since I like her a lot, and I don't want to seem like I'm celebrating the fact that she's leaving.

Just say what you just said.

So far, the problem is that the census tells me the population of a tract, but not the boundary streets around a tract.

Block-level data may also be available? But you should definitely be able to find a tract map that shows the precise boundaries. As an undergrad, I did a project that correlated census data with voting results, and those districts are definitely not the same -- I had to add it up by block. But of course that was the 1990 census! And I had access to an academic library.

Just say what you just said.

Hmm. OK, here's what I've got -- does this look OK?

Subject: Leaving [school]?

Hi [name],

I just heard from [name] that you're leaving [school] -- is that true? I was sad to hear it; I've enjoyed having you in town and getting to know you better.

This is somewhat awkward for me to ask, since I am genuinely sorry that you're leaving, but I am interested in applying for the library director position, and I was wondering if you might be comfortable telling me something about the job? I don't see it posted on the [school] job site yet, but [name] thinks it would be best for me to send in my application ASAP, so I'm curious to know more about what kinds of duties/responsibilities the position entails. If you'd rather not share that kind of information, of course, I would understand.

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing you and [name] at next week's KidLit Drink Night!

Best wishes,

Kate

The other awkward thing is that I don't have a personal email address for her, only have her address at the school. So I don't know if I should send it to her school address or via Facebook (which I would usually not use for job-related stuff, but maybe that's the better option in this case?).