Remember those word problems you had to do in elementary school? Those "who's still on the train after it stops 4 times and lots of people get on and off" problems? I remember being pretty good at them (much better than at geometry!), but always wondered what the point was. After all, in real life, all you have to do is just LOOK at the train at the end and you'd know who was still on it, right?! Well, I finally had an opportunity to use my 3rd grade math skills. Take my test, and see if YOU can figure out the answer...
Mommy has 3 children and 4 animal pancakes left: a hippo, a tiger, a giraffe and a monkey. She's all out of lions. Big Sis likes hippos and lions, will occasionally eat a giraffe, but won't eat monkeys. Minnie 1 likes lions and monkeys, and insists the giraffe is a zebra. She won't eat hippos. Minnie 2 likes monkeys, monkeys, and monkeys and will sometimes eat a lion. None of the children admit that tigers exist. Pancakes can never, ever be cut.
Big Sis: "Mommy, can I have 2 pancakes 'cause I'm the biggest?"
Minnie 1: "Noooooo! Me get it! I'm TWO AND A HALF now!"
Minnie 2: "Eee, eee, ooo, ooo, me want 4, 5, 4 eee, eee, ooo, ooo's."
So, how do you divide up the pancakes??
Figured it out? Read on for the answer to check your third grade math skills...
Well, clearly Big Sis gets the hippo. And since she only has 12 minutes before having to catch the bus, and it's waayyyy easier to stuff 2 pancakes into her than play the "what else do you want to eat?" game while simultaneously getting her to comb her hair, put on her shoes and stop her from singing "na, na, na, na, na" at her sisters, she also got the tiger, delivered with my favorite quote from her old preschool teacher: "you get what you get, and you don't get upset."
Minnie 1 gets the giraffe, with a nod, smile, and sagely delivered, "Here's your zebra, sweetheart."
Minnie 2 gets the monkey. Just as the requests for "more, Mama, more!" reach a crescendo, smart Mommy whips out the boxes of raisins, which, in our house, strangely enough, are treated with more respect than candy. Once distracted by raisins, Mommy hides the evidence of the pancakes ever having existed, and offers bananas as the option for breakfast completion. Mommy has a martini.
And when the train stops at the last station, there are 3 full-bellied children and no animals left. Another meal completed.
14 comments:
Mommy your math skille are zoo-riffic....I am always trying to divide the Eggo minis fair and square. Sometimes I have to eat one to even the score.
Noble - Yes, I had to sacrifice myself in a similar fashion today in the interest of fair cookie sharing. ('course, I probably didn't have to eat THREE of them) -sigh- The things I have to do for my children... :-)
All my kids eat dog or cat food. Some of the doggie treats are ok, but not anything I'd want to make a meal out of.
Sorry, had to deleter earlier version of this due to idiocy of typos that produced a senseless comment. Here's what I meant to write:
This isn't math; it's deductive reasoning. Excellent deductive reasoning, I might add. I totally would have done exactly what you did. With the possible exception of simply renaming the tiger a lion ("it's a lady lion, no mane") to further keep the peace.
Our farm waffles, for example produce two cows and two barns because that's what the little people prefer. And if you turn the rooster upside down, it looks a lot like a small version of the barn, so that's fine. And the pig has longish legs. Hence, cow. See, it's all good...
I bow down to your Mommy Math genius-ness. (what? That's not a word?) Be expecting a call from Mensa any minute now!!
MT - Whaddya' mean that's not math?!?!? It's the only math class I ever aced! *sheesh*
McMommy - Thanks! At least SOMEONE appreciates my genius! :-)
I love this post. But I have to confess I cheated and read the answer without trying to figure it out myself first. *hangs head in shame* Do I fail grade 3?
You are the ULTIMATE zoo pal (are your kids crazy for those silly plates, cups and plasticware?)! I too read on through without so much as an attempt at figuring out the answer. I don't do math - 3rd grade level or not!
(P.S. I was in Plymouth last weekend and thought about contacting you for coffee!!)
Divide up the pancakes? Baby Bode outeats us all. Seriously. Yesterday, the kid downed four pancakes.
I think he could go on tour....
Kzoo Mom of 2 -- Oh I wish you had!! (about the coffee, I mean) We are members of the Detroit Zoo, so if you ever make a trek east again and want to visit, or go see real live animals, drop me an email.
PS This post was written by my sister, who lives outside of Boston. It's a little confusing on this site, I think. We're working on that...
You could be a MATH PROFESSOR or a ROCKET SCIENTIST!
Dude, my crush on you grows.
Very creative and diplomatic solution. This is why I will never be a Mommy Blogger -- I suck. I would have said "All pancakes must be eaten with blindfolds on or the animals will eat YOU."
I figure I'm keeping several future psychiatrists in business.
Mommytime - I will email next time - promise! We LOVE the zoo. Haven't been to Detroit Zoo in forever, but want to take the kiddies.
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