More and more lately, for whatever reason, the kids have been wondering about “how long” until something or something is done. Most times I don’t know and I’ll just tell them that. Other times I’ll offer a substantive answer like “an-hour-and-a-half” or what have you.
These answers never fail to prompt the obvious next question:
How long is that?
Until recently, I’d just say “90 minutes”, and they’d repeat the question, so I’d go back to “an-hour-and-a-half.” Rinse, repeat.
Then I realized a better way. I started answering in “cartoon” units. So now I’ll say “an episode of Dora, an episode of Martha Speaks, and an episode of Arthur“. Or sometimes, “2 episodes of Scooby Doo” if it’s an hour.
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s been effective. So cartoons have another use in addition to entertainment.
One reply on “Units of Time”
🙂