Human Spectrophotometry

The Superhero and I have a running metaphor called human spectrophotometry.

Spectrophotometry
is a way of determining the constituent substances in a solution. The idea is to send varying frequencies of light through a solution and see which frequencies are absorbed and which pass through. Every constituent substance has a "signature" of light it absorbs, and if, for instance, you see 3 spikes in the spectrophotometry graph (see left), you can say that you have 3 different chemicals mixed together, and you can tell what they are from where the spikes show up.

The idea of "human" spectrophotometry is that people have a variety of different constituent properties and you could plot a graph describing what any given person is like. For instance, I have a very spiky spectrophotometry: I have areas in which I'm very strong (logical thinking, for instance) and areas in which I'm very weak (dealing with people). The Superhero's spectrophotometry is very even and very high: she's well-rounded and talented across the board.

The Twins are just like me; they're spectrophotometry is also very spiky, and spiky in the same spots. While I'm sure they'll have lifelong difficulties making friends and decoding women, they're great when it comes to learning letters, numbers, days of the week, and the like. I still recall the day when they demonstrated that they could count to 10 in Spanish, sans parental instruction. Their parents may have been taking refuge with Dora the Babysitter Explorer around that time. Hard to say.

In any case, up until this past weekend, the Twins have had a weird blind spot for understanding the differences between the different meals. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner were interchangeable synonyms until I decided to make this:


Ever since, we've been crystal clear. We have to read through all the characteristics of the various meals every time we sit down to eat. Is it morning, afternoon or night? How many meals have we had today?

There are some very nice changes as the kids are getting older. They don't scream in the night, and I get to teach them stuff! I love to explain stuff to people! Even if they won't need math help as much as I'd like, there are all kinds of holes in what the school system teaches. Like how to have a nice marriage, or how to make a budget, or how to delegate, or the importance of exercise. One day, we can even sit down and draw our very own spectrophomometry graphs!