Trying to beat the writer gene out of my children

OK, the title of this post is very much hyperbole.

I'm not really trying to beat the writer gene out of my children. I don't even know if all three of my children have it. But Lester is a former newspaperman and writer and I am a former newspaper gal and writer. Both of us now work "in communications," which is a euphemism for, "We have no math or science skills."

All respect to my fellow communicators out there, really! There's nothing wrong with being good at communicating; there's a HUGE need in this world for people who can read, write and convey thoughts in a way that people can understand. I totally understand that and appreciate it.
It's just that we want our children to:

1. Get out of our house one day.
2. Get out of our house one day.

And so, we want them to have the confidence and the ability to take on math- and science-related professions, should they so choose. Because that's where the jobs are.

We think that most likely, our kids will be inherently good at language-related stuff, because of their family make-up. My Mom's an excellent writer and a reader (nonfiction, mostly); my Dad's a poet and a voluminous reader (fiction and autobiographies, mostly); my sister Kadija would rather read books than do almost anything. She'll read anything you put in front of her. Tahira, the language arts teacher, is the exact same way. Reading is our common hobby. And there are no shortage of words in our extended family -- well, except when it comes to addressing difficult, inter-personal topics, but that is another story altogether.

Anyway, if our kids are anything like we are, we think we will have to work a little harder at getting them to love math and science, and feel comfortable and confident about their abilities to master those topics. I know when I go to board meetings at the Baltimore Urban Debate League, and the finance people start going over the financials, my brain shuts. off. I pretend like I have a clue what they're saying, or that I understand the confusing columns and rows of figures. But ummm. No. Not even a little.

So, I am really interested in what any of you science and math-y types do with your kids that I might not think to do, being a word-y person.

Already, we've started doing a few very rudimentary "experiments," which have gone over very well with the kids. They call it "doing a science."

One day we did the age-old trick of using food dye to change water in clear plastic cups different colors. Another day we put ice in bowls and watched it turn into water and talked about why cold things melt.

One fun one was putting M&M's in water and watching the colors of the candy leach out into the water, making beautiful colors (I considered this science and art). And then, if we were very patient, we could see the "M" float off into the water (or at least pieces of the "M"). Bonus: When we were done, we got to eat M&M's!

So sad that red dye No. 5 is so darn tasty.

Dean said, "Mommy, it looks like a rainbow!"

When the pack of M&M's was gone, Clair was beside herself. I think we've turned her off of science forever.

We also did a fun experiment where I put a bunch of different fruits and vegetables into a bag, blindfolded the kids and had them guess what they had in their hands just by feeling and smelling.

But I'm running out of ideas that are simple and cheap and not dangerous or over their heads. And I also am not sure what to do to encourage their math skills, besides endless counting of objects. Are there math "projects" we can do with 3-year-olds?

What do you guys do to make math and science fun for your kids? Help me turn these kids into software engineers or venture capitalists or CFOs, please. Or else when they decide they want to be journalists (God help us!) and are still living in our house at age 30, we will blame YOU.

The Davis boys play it fair and make Mommy's heart swell

Scene 1
The kitchen, before dinner. Dean spies the apricots - immediately decides he is STARVING.

Dean: Mommy, can I have an apricot? I'm hungry.

Me: I'm fixing dinner now, so maybe we can have one after dinner.

Dean: OK, Cary can have one and I can have one.

Me: Sounds good. But what about Clair? Can Clair have one?

Dean: (Quiet...thinking) Mommy, Clairzee can't have one because there's only two.

Me: Hmmm. You're right. There are only two apricots. Hmmm. What are we going to do? There are three children (I count each child slowly) and only two apricots. Clair will be sad if she doesn't have one.

Dean: Mommy, I think you're going to have to split it.

Cary: Yeah, Mommy, you have to split them, and give me one and Dean one and Clair one.

Me: OK, I'll do that. I'll cut them in half, and give one to each of you. One for Dean, one for Clair, and one for Cary.

Cary: That's a GREAT idea, Mommy!

MOMMY'S HEART SWELLS TO SIZE OF SOCCER BALL.

Scene 2
After dinner, cutting the apricots and dividing them up.

Me: Well, look. There's one half left.What do you think we should do?

Dean: Mommy, you can have that one.

Me: Ohhh, thanks sweetie. But I have an idea. Since you are such big boys, I'll cut this one piece in half again and give a piece to you and a piece to Cary. That way you both have TWO pieces of apricot.

Dean: YAYYY!!! (Claps!)

Cary: We get two because we're big boys?

Me: Yes, I gave you two because you're big boys, and also because I love you.

Cary: Awwwww. Thanks, Mommy.

Me: HEART SWELLS TO THE SIZE OF A BASKETBALL.

(P.S. Being the crazy woman that I am, I also cannot help but take note of the fact that there were some subliminal math messages going on in this fairness conversation. My plot to turn my kids into software engineers/CFOs/venture capitalists is underway! Bwahahahaaa! Ah-hahahahaaa!)