maqupi

We all agree that parenting is stressful & exhausting. The thing is, when we meet other parents we have to endure listening to how hard it is for them, with little concern for us. How can we be unquestionably certain that it is us, and not them, having a terrible time with those monsters that claim to be our offspring?  I can help by providing absolute quantitative metrics for parenthood-derived stress, so that when we meet obnoxious parents at softplay or whatever, hard numbers and solid stats will speak for us. Here we go. The Peppa Magnitude Scale  measures the stress caused by watching several consecutive episodes of the same children's show. Three Peppa Pig episodes give a score of 3, and so on. Beware, the scale is exponential so a score of 8 is twice as stressful than 7, and 32 times worse than 3! Scientists do not agree entirely on which shows qualify and the debate is still fierce. Sure hits are Peppa Pig, Teletubbies, Waybuloo, Baby Jake. Mouthful Separ

When a child is "into science" and likes "sciencey stuff", what can a parent do to keep the flame alive and help fulfilling a dream? In almost 20 years spent toiling in a laboratory I have learned a few things about science that may not be common knowledge. I share them here. A scientist is naturally  curious and inquisitive . Kids ask many questions and in an ideal world mum & dad not only know the answers, but also how to explain things in a simple and correct way. Hard indeed but this is what we should always aim for. The worst thing one can do is to dismiss a question by giving a wrong, oversimplified reply. The problem is, even a question as simple as "how do we know that the earth is round?" has no straightforward answer. I think however that it is good for a child to learn that there are things that mum and dad don't know. It is never too early to learn that the world we live in is a very complicated place, and the laws of nature