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“If we eat healthy food, does that mean we’ll never die?”
Preschooler: “Mommyo, if we eat healthy food, does that mean we’ll never die?” Mother, suppressing a sigh and taking a determined chomp of her now slightly less enjoyable Granny Smith apple: “No.”...
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In which my daughter reveals herself to be a very picky eater
Not on the menu. (Image Credit: Joaquim Alves Gaspar) Preschooler, after wolfing down a graham cracker and a peach: Mommyo, I want something else to eat. Me: OK. What do you want? Preschooler: Oh,...
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“What is a dormouse, and how did it get its name?”
Last night during storytime, my daughter listened patiently to an entire page of Under the Harvest Moon by Stella Gurney before interrupting my husband with a question. “What’s a dormouse?” “That,” my...
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Jalapeno Noon
The Four-Year-Old, face crumpled from the jalapeno her father has just encouraged her to try: “Daddyo, I’m not happy.” Daddyo: “Drink some milk.” The Four-Year-Old does, face uncrumpling as she...
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In which my daughter puts her dinosaur vocabulary to good use
The Four-Year-Old, watching her mother carve up a roast chicken: “Please can I not eat the chicken, Mommyo?” Mommyo, who is proud of how the chicken came out and who kind of wants to hear her daughter...
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Breakfast at Caterpickles II
Rainy winter mornings when The Four-Year-Old wakes up early and there are guests in the house simply scream for complicated breakfasts. This is especially fun when The Four-Year-Old is in a measuring...
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“What does gy-normously hungry mean?”
"Blech! Who'd want to eat a crocodile?" (Image courtesy of FreeNaturePics at http://www.freenaturepictures.com.) Mommyo, as she prepared to dish out The Four-Year-Old’s oatmeal: “The Four-Year-Old, are...
View ArticleCaterpickles Cleans House, Part 5
You may have noticed that the questions haven’t been exactly thick on the ground here at Caterpickles Central lately. It’s not that The Ten-Year-Old doesn’t still have plenty of curiosity to go around,...
View Article“Did a cow invent the doughnut?”
One afternoon, while we were watching old episodes of Murdoch Mysteries, The Ten-Year-Old had her mind blown by a stray comment from Constable George Crabtree. “Did you know that a cow invented the...
View Article“What’s a sugar plum, and why does it get its own fairy?”
The holidays have finally struck here at Caterpickles Central. I wasn’t entirely sure it was going to happen this year, seeing as how there are still flowers blooming outside our front door, but I...
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(Not at all) Wordless Wednesday: Fractal Cauliflower
Look what we found at the Farmer’s Market a week or two ago: Photo: Michael Howell At the time, we called it a fractal cauliflower, but I’ve since learned it’s not a cauliflower at all. It’s actually...
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“Were Thin Mints really the third type of Girl Scout cookie ever introduced?”
In case your neighborhood hasn’t been overtaken by Girl Scouts peddling cookies, consider this a public service announcement: It’s Girl Scout Cookie Season. Sales end (in Northern California at least)...
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“Can I compost my potentially E. coli-infected lettuce?”
Update November 26, 2018: This post was originally written in response to the multi-state outbreak of e.coli contamination in romaine lettuce that occurred in April 2018. That particular outbreak was...
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“Why can’t you heat a jawbreaker?”
In an effort to finally rid the house of our leftover Halloween and Easter candy, I snagged a copy of Loralee Leavitt’s Candy Experiments and began to flip through looking for a way to dispose of all...
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“What happens in a microwave that makes jawbreakers explode?”
If you’re just joining us, last week I learned that jawbreakers can explode when heated in a microwave. This week, I’m going to find out why. What happens in a microwave that makes jawbreakers explode?...
View Article“Why do you have to change baking recipes at high altitudes?”
Hi all, it’s back to school time here at Caterpickles Central, which means my annual summer hiatus from blogging about the random questions that pop up in our lives is over. But before I get into...
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“Do fish have tongues?”
I’ve been following Krista D. Ball (@kristadb1) on Twitter ever since I first read her book, What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank: A Fantasy Lover’s Food Guide, several years ago. It’s an outstanding book...
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Wordless Wednesday: Middle school metaphors
My daughter left me this butter sculpture by the toaster this morning. The more I contemplated it the more I realized that it was the perfect metaphor for middle school. Seen from the right angle, it...
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“Why do my biscuits taste like metal?”
A few years ago, my husband began making biscuits on Saturday mornings. Although not all of his efforts have been equally delicious, our family loves starch in nearly all of its forms, so we were...
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