Brother, can you lend a hand?

Subtitled: And then there were none.

Here is what we homeschoolers do in Minnesota when the days are short, the weather’s cold and the rigors of math are not quite cutting it. We turn our attention to a little engineering!

Inspired by a visit from their former (but still just as pretty) babysitters who were home on college break, my sons thought that it would be fun to test everyone’s knowledge of…well, the domino effect.

In the first photo, we see the principles of “slow and steady” at play. Emily the Former Babysitter (herself an Engineering major at Notre Dame) senses immediately the result of Son Number One’s slip-up. She’s smart as a whip, that Emily.

In the second image, you will note that the photographer has moved to the other side of the table with lightening speed in order to catch the expression on the guilty party’s face. Wisely, I chose not to document the disappointment-in-action of Son Number Two as he gave his brother a good hard smack. (It could have been worse. He could have given his brother a good hard konk with that wooden pepper mill.)

The third photo is included just ‘cause I had it, and also to provide you with the full panoramic view—free of charge, mind you, just ‘cause I’m so nice.

I regret that I didn’t capture all this on video. If that had been the case, this post would have taken up three seconds of your time instead of three minutes.

All things considered, which is best?

Don’t answer that.

Ad Jesum per Mariam,