Announcing a trip to the grocery store begins a negotiation process. Going to the grocery store will require your kids, spouse or friend to give up some of their time while you check off everything on your list. For the time someone else gives up for you to be pleasant, often you negotiate a deal…

Stacking blocks can go one of two ways. Stacking blocks when we are young, immature and unwise is haphazard, chaotic and prone to toppling over. Stacking blocks when we are older, mature and wise is planned, systematic and stable. As we grow up, we grow wise in the ways of stacking blocks so they will…

You can use a pocketknife as a paperweight. And you can use a pocketknife to prop open a door. A pocketknife can function in these two ways, but if those were the only ways that a person believed a pocketknife could be used, they would be wrong. Pocketknives come equipped with all kinds of foldout…

Oobleck, sounds like the name of someone from the Old Testament, but it is not. Oobleck is a mixture of two parts cornstarch to one part water and is known as a non-Newtonian fluid, which is a fluid that does not follow Newton’s law of viscosity. This means that a change in force changes its…

You are blessed when you get to go to school with a lunch packed with good things. All the good things in your school lunch were provided by mom, dad, a grandparent or some other grown up. When lunch time comes and you find someone who is in need and you get to share your…

“You cannot touch the ball with your hands.” Those are the rules in soccer. The referee or coach will say something if they see it, but you also have the right to call out your fellow player for breaking the rules. Telling another player they have broken the rules might be difficult if they are…

Teasing hurts. Teasing someone by calling them names hurts. Name calling changes how we are seen; it affects our reputation. It affects whether someone wants to sit by us, pick us to be on their team, play with us, work with us, date us, love us, etc. When a hurtful nickname sticks around, it chains…

Storms are scary. The wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightning are far out of our control. When the bad storms come, it is important to know who can keep you safe. We are blessed to have parents, first responders, hospitals, power companies, insurance agencies, etc. who help us in the moment and after to stay…

When you plant an acorn in a small pot in your backyard, you expect it to grow. At first, nothing happens, then a small sprout appears. Over time, the little sprout grows prompting the need to transfer the little oak tree to a larger pot. Then, the small tree must be planted in the ground.…

There are a few ways that you can react after breaking something. One, you can hide yourself or the object. Two, you can try to fix it with duct tape because duct tape fixes everything. Three, you can blame someone else. Four, you can go to someone who can fix it. When we are broken…