a reason to learn decimals

I took Friday off to relax between the insanity of Stay-At-Home-Mom Summer 2009 and another rowdy school year. I took the light rail downtown to get a pedicure and a haircut. As I was sitting there, dryers humming and music playing around me, the daycare provider called. Figuring she could always call my husband, I let it go to voicemail.

As it turns out, she hadn't understood my directions on how to give my twins Tylenol for their teething. I'd written: Dosage: 1.2 mL (one and a half droppers).

The dropper is labeled 0.4 and 0.8, which add up to 1.2 mL. "I didn't know which number to use," she said. So she gave them each 0.4 mL, which is like me taking half a pill for my own aches and pains: not nearly enough.

I'm not trying to put her down at all. She's wonderful and patient with the boys, and she tried to interpret what could definitely have been clearer directions. Most important, she was careful not to overdose.

But she could also stand a decimal review.