Real life Rosie Revere Engineer and Ada Twist Scientist

One of Mabel’s best friends is Meme. Meme lives around the corner from us, the girls are only four months apart in age, I work with her mom (we are both #scimoms), and our families are friends.

Last year for the first day of school I surprised both girls with a copy of Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beatty and David Roberts. Both girls already had Rosie Revere Engineer and loved it, so the sequel was a good choice.

And it just so happens that Mabel looks a lot like Rosie and Meme looks a lot like Ada.

Source: https://www.andreabeaty.com/download-citizen-poster.html

So, it seemed logical to dress them up as Rosie and Ada!

I posted about making the no-sew Rosie Revere costume here.

Ada is wearing an old Tea Collection dress and her mom did her hair.

The pictures were awesome and the girls had fun dressing up.

(I tried really hard to get Nemo to dress up as Iggy, but even bribery would not entice him to participate!)

Afterwards, the girls went out to play and the moms chatted over coffee and laughed. Fun was had by all (even Nemo).

LEGO Minifig Scientist!!!

I came home Friday after work to this!  The LEGO Series 11 Female Scientist Minifig!

It only took Mac four tries to get one (which is still significantly cheaper than paying $15 on Amazon for one?!).  Mabel is partial to the robot we got (probably because it’s a girl and it’s pink).  Nemo is partial to eating the small pieces.

Now, we’re on the hunt for more, and more some lighter brown/blonde hair to put on this one so it looks more like me, because that’s important.

I wish it was easier to purchase just the minifig you want, because I would love to get these from some of my coworkers.

I also really, REALLY want to get a welder for my dad, who is a welder.  I don’t think he would particularly care to possess one, but it seems like he should have one nonetheless.

 

I wish I was less of a scientist… when thinking about hand sanitizer

I wish I was less of a scientist when I have to use hand sanitizer.

Today in the kitchen at work, I noticed two bottles of hand sanitizer next to the sink and thought to myself, “Why in God’s name would you use hand sanitizer when you had access to soap and water?”

Really, why would you? I wouldn’t, for the reason below.

Source (xkcd) and Explaination here.

Another thing to consider- hand sanitizer just kills the bacteria/viruses, it doesn’t remove their dead corpses from your hands.  If you had poop on your hand, but I assured you all the bacteria in it were dead, would be fine with leaving the poop on your hands?

There’s a difference between disinfected (no infectious agents to get you sick) and clean (free from germs, dirt, and filth).  I much prefer clean.

My mother (a school nurse and RN) always jokes, “Back in my day, we didn’t declare a jihad on germs, we just washed them away with soap and water.”  She has a point.

I do use hand sanitizer, but only when there is no soap and water available, and even then I like to use it and then use a baby wipe to wipe them off once they are dry.

Even the CDC recommends soap and water over a hand sanitizer (see here for the recommendation and step by step instructions on how to wash your hands)!

Every baby is a scientist.

This topic is panning out to be a favorite of mine.

I’ve posted before about how everyone is a scientist, how kids use the scientific method, how I’m not the only one who thinks this way, etc.

Here’s a great graphic to illustrate just how babies use the scientific method.

Source: IFLS

(Kinda) Wordless Wednesday: Snowy Day

I’ve been enjoying our almost-daily sprinkling of snow.  It’s enough to dust the ground and the car, but doesn’t impede travel or require clearing.  I don’t remember weather like this in many years- with nearly constant snow on the ground.

Mabel has been enjoying it too (see below).

We were rushing to get in the car to go to school, but I really just could not help but stop and admire her making tracks in the snow.  It was definitely one of those scenes in the movie of your life when you imagine the camera capturing the poignant scene.

I stopped rushing her, and just watched her, nay, admired her.  She is a joyful child.  Pity I’m going to screw her up.*

*As my Nana always said- with every talk show sob story or criminal with a troubled childhood- “It’s always the mother’s fault.” See here for my hopes and aspirations as a mom distilled into a few sentenced.

Wordless Wednesday: Theory doesn’t mean what you think it means

via https://www.facebook.com/scienceisawesome

As usual with stuff people share on Facebook, I do not have a source to whom this should be attributed.  If you know of the original source, please let me know so I can credit appropriately.

Toronto as a Scientist, Wife, and Mother

In the “About” section of my blog I say, “My titles include Scientist, Wife, and Mother.”  (And yes, I will continue to use the Oxford comma– I don’t care what anyone says!)

I recently took a trip to Toronto to attend the International Society for Stem Cell Research 9th Annual Meeting.

See the CN Tower (aka La Tour CN) peeking out behind the buildings?

It was my first major conference since moving from an academic post-doc to an industrial scientist position.  It was my first time taking a trip,  just my husband and I,  since we became a family of three  almost 18 months ago.  It was the first time I’d been away (and the furthest I’d been) from my daughter for more than just an overnight since she was born.

I feel like this trip really brought home for me how those titles encompass different, maybe at times conflicting, points of view.  The “Scientist” was there in a professional capacity to learn.  The “Wife” was there on her first trip alone with her husband since the birth of their first child.  The “Mom” was ambivalent about enjoying the trip and missing her daughter.

In the coming week I hope to expand on the experience from each of these perspectives.  Overall I think it was a positive experience- I learned a lot as a scientist, a wife, and a mom.

Do you have a similar predicament?  Are there aspects of your life that conflict with each other?  How do you resolve them?