Being an Engineer's Child, Part 2

Another hazard of living in an engineer-led family is that dinner time conversation sometimes is not typical.  I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not the usual.  Laying aside the various interpretations that we can find for what is "cerebral" conversation, I will say it probably qualifies as "cerebral" - at times.  Some examples:

• We had an entire conversation around the history and use of imaginary numbers.  My wife (who, by the way, has a degree in Mathematics Education) pointed out that they are also known, or originally known, as "normal" numbers (because they are represented in a 2-dimensional graph as being normal, or at a right angle to, the real axis).  I explained their usage in Fourier and Laplace transforms, one of the kids wondered who would even come up with such a thing, what was the origin, etc.  It then transformed into jokes like, "Imaginary number? You mean, like my allowance? Ha ha ha". I then told of a friend (a fellow engineer) who created the following phone message:  "You have reached an imaginary number.  Please hang up, turn your phone 90 degrees, and dial again."  We all had a hearty laugh over that one, then discussed amongst ourselves why we weren't the most popular kids at school (then or now).

• Our celebration of Pi day (March 14th - you know, 3/14?).  My son announced he was entering a competition at school to memorize the most digits of pi (the prize was, of course, a pie).  His goal was over 250 (he got to 280, I think).  He then spent dinner time reciting them, amidst the 'boos' and catcalls of the other children who had already heard his spiel earlier in the day. While I love my son, hearing 100 digits of pi over meatloaf is a little tiresome - but then, my whole point here is that it's probably (at least partially) my fault.

There are so many other aspects of engineer family life - sense of humor, borderline OCD (or CDO, as my daughter tells me - you have to alphabetize it) - maybe I'll come back to it again some time.

In the meantime - hug an engineer - or an engineer's child - they probably need it...

Being an Engineer's Child, Part 1

I studied computational mathematics in undergraduate school, and went on to do graduate work in engineering.  This qualifies me as a super-geek / advanced nerd / dweeb extraordinaire - and I have the papyrus to prove it.  This has created some probably-not-unforseen consequences - namely, my children have nerd leanings.  For the benefit of those who are themselves nascent geek, and who might consider procreating, let me give some insight into how that's going to work. 

Today's blog will talk about one possibility - your children will exhibit tendencies to be literalists.  Examples include:

• My son, then age 3, comes into the bathroom as I'm finishing running his bathwater.  I say, "OK, jump into the tub".  He proceeds to make a leaping attempt to enter the bath, but does not quite make it.  I now have to explain to my wife why bathtime has turned into tears time (as well as the exceedingly large welt on the side of his head)

• Another son is getting ready to start school.  As any responsible (snort!) parent would do, I take it upon myself to teach him traffic safety.  We come to a street which we desire to cross, and I ask, "Do you see any cars?".  Whereupon, my son replies, "Yeah, Dad, there's a bunch all parked on the sides."

• Various discussions in the vein of, "I'm not touching you, I'm touching your clothes", and "I didn't hit you, I just pushed and the floor / wall / doorpost hit you."

In future installments, we'll explore other perils of engineer / scientist offspring...