Dear Kid,

Happy 11^th!

The number 11 is very cool (not necessarily cooler than other numbers, but we’re not talking about other numbers today).

There are all sorts of interesting things about then number 11 that I don’t really understand (including that the number 11 “carries a vibrational frequency of balance.” Say what?) so I’m not going to talk about them. If you want more, you can consult My Friend the Internet your-own-self.

One of the fun facts (excuse me, “easy to understand fun facts”) is that multiplying 11s lets you build Number Eleven Pyramids.

Number Eleven Pyramids
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
Feel free to keep going—it works.

Do you know about elevenses? It’s what you eat around 11am if you happen to be in the UK. If you happen to be in the US, you still eat it but it’s called a coffee break.

The number 11 is important in sports. In football, field hockey, cricket (who knew?), and soccer, there are 11 players on each team. Not in rugby, but they make up for it by having a ball that’s 11 inches long.

There are all kinds of funky tricks for figuring out if a number is divisible by 11. For example, if you add up the odd digits and then add the even digits and take the difference, if the resulting number is a multiple of 11 (including 0), then the original number is divisible by 11. And I repeat, say what? Easier (but perhaps not as interesting) to grab a calculator

Most importantly, the 11^th is today. Hope you can find 11 great things about your day.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Is it me, or are football players getting bigger? I turned to My Friend the Internet for information.

After much scientific analysis, data regression, and an apple, I concluded that the average professional football player is big.

Big as in larger than the ordinary human. Big as in there is a reason that football pants only go to the knee (any more fabric and the league would go broke). Big as in “Daaaammmn!” (Extra points if you get the reference.)

It’s important that football players are big—because all the other football players are big. It is important that football players are strong—because all the other football players are strong. It is important that football players are fast—because splat is only fun if you’re the splat-er rather than the splat-ee.

This year’s Super Bowl was a feast of have and have nots seen and seen not.

We saw puppies and more puppies and Super Bowl babies and Doritos babies and cars and even some football that didn’t include unsportsmanlike conduct. We saw the longest punt return in the history of the Super Bowl. We saw a two point conversion.

We saw a lot of sacks and a lot of turnovers. And a really sad FG attempt that had our resident kicker saying, “Oh, I feel so bad for him. The commentators need to stop talking about it. I’m sure he feels bad enough.”

Did you notice that Cam’s chewing gum matched his uniform? Important color coordination. I think that’s worth at least 2 style points but negative five for Who Lets Someone Play with Gum in Their Mouth?

We heard the announcers talk about Athletic Trainers (shout out!) and we saw a great halftime show.

There was a lot that we didn’t see in this year’s Super Bowl.

We didn’t see OT, because Peyton. We didn’t see dabbing by Cam, because defense. We didn’t see a safety (frowny face).

We didn’t see a drop kick bounced on the ground. It’s legal, it used to be done a lot, but now it seems QBs and kickers are leaving that kind of drop kick to rugby players.

We didn’t see illegal leverage. This does not refer to using the same cash to place multiple bets (the finance majors reading this understood that one). Illegal leverage is when the defense pushes or pulls members of their own team during a FG or PAT.

We had a long National Anthem and orange beverage being poured on the coach (important if you’re following the prop bets).

In Summary: We need to go back to Roman Numerals.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Today is the 600^th DearKidLoveMom blog. This has exactly no historical significance. There is no need to applaud unless you really want to. In which case, who am I to object?

Once I realized that it was the 600^th blog, I immediately turned to My Friend the Internet to see what interesting information I could find about the number 600. MFTI was—as usual—most helpful.

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest NASCAR race (at 600 miles). The race takes place in May at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (just in case you were thinking about buying tickets).

600 “represents the Karma of the microcosmic individual.” I have no idea what that means. If anyone can explain it, I would be delighted to listen. Unless it’s a bunch of drivel in which case I will forgo the education.

Noah was 600 when the flood began. One would assume he aged significantly while afloat with all those animals. I’m guessing one measures time in dog years when one is aboard the ark.

The number 600 is pronic as it is the product of two consecutive numbers (in this case 24 and 25—aren’t you glad I figured it out for you?). Turns out there are a bunch of other classifications I’ve never heard of (like cake and pizza numbers.  I kid you not. I thought I understood the definitions of those, but when I looked at the examples, it turns out I don’t. I shall consult my fave mathematician and baker.).

The head of Goliath’s spear weighed 600 shekels of iron. This is about half what my purse usually weighs.

The number 600 is used 25 times in the Bible. I’m not sure which Bible or who counted, but MFTI says it’s true, so there you have it.

In the year 600 CE Pope Gregory the Great decreed “God bless You” as the religiously correct response to a sneeze. This is probably my favorite fact about the number 600. What’s yours?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, immortalized the six hundred in The Charge of the Light Brigade.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
“Charge for the guns!” he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

and so on

According to Japanese lore, when the crane (or stork) turns 600, it ceases to eat and is satisfied with drinking.

600 basketballs were available to use during the London Olympics.

On average, you will take 600 million breaths during your life. I advise living long enough to far exceed this number.

The odds of being struck by lightning are about 600 thousand to one. Of course, if you get hit by lightning, you might not get to take all 600 million breaths, so listen to your mother and don’t play golf during a lightning storm.

There are 600 pain censors in each square inch of skin. Unless you get a papercut in which case there are 600 x 600 pain censors per millimeter of skin.

It takes (about) 600 cows to make enough footballs for a single NFL season. Cows typically do not volunteer for football making duty. I should really write a blog about footballs.

There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. None of them are good for you. If necessary, I can provide 600 reasons you shouldn’t smoke. Not for you, but you might know someone who can benefit.

And once I sign off, this blog will have 600 words. Just exactly 600.

Love, Mom