Magic and Mayhem

We have a big hardcover book of facts about the 20th century that I got on sale somewhere.  Yesterday I grabbed it off the front porch bookshelf and left it out in the living room.  I heard once that there’s an unschooling term for that, strewing– leaving educational things out for kids to happen upon.  I do a lot of strewing.  It works well.

Last night at bedtime I sent Anna upstairs to get ready for bed.  We were planning on going to see a train today and needed to get up early, so I told her she should head up.  She saw the book on her way up, shrugged, and picked it up.

Later on when I went in to check on her, she was lying in bed reading 20th century facts.   I told her she really needed to put the book away and try to sleep.

“Okay Mom.  Can you remember 1905 to 1906?”.

What???  I indignantly replied that I wasn’t alive in 1905, that it was over a hundred years ago.

Anna burst out laughing and said, “No, I mean will you remember that’s where I am in the book!”.

Then she looked at me like I was so silly and went on, “Of course you weren’t alive in 1905!  If you were, you would have been alive when Teddy Roosevelt was president, but he wasn’t elected president.  He was vice president and he was only in office for 6 months before the president died so he became president.  The vice president automatically becomes president if the president dies, but I didn’t find that out from the book, I knew that already.”

Just when I think that kid is going to dedicate her life to nail polish, Hannah Montana and art projects, she goes and talks my ear off about 20th century presidents.

And since we’re on the subject, here’s 10 facts about Theodore Roosevelt:

1.  He was asthmatic and frequently sick as a child, which led to his being homeschooled by his parents and tutors for most of his childhood. Despite being sick for much of his childhood, he was known for being hyperactive and mischievous.

2.  He was the youngest person to ever become president, at age 42 (after President McKinley was assasinated).

3.  He was a Republican but also a member of the Progressive Movement.  He later formed the Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party, saying  “To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.” He was also the first president to call for universal health care and national health insurance.

4.  He was an outdoorsman and environmentalist.  He promoted conservationism and the responsible use of natural resources and put aside more land for national parks and reserves than all previous presidents combined.

5.  He was nicknamed “Teedie” as a child.  His first wife gave him the nickname “Teddie” and he later intensely disliked it.

6.  He had a photographic memory, loved books and had a lifelong fascination with zoology.

7.  He wrote a book called The Winning of the West where he made many racist statements about the importance of “civilized” (white) people winning the control of countries.

He wrote,

“.. it is of incalculable importance that America, Australia, and Siberia should pass out of the hands of their red, black, and yellow aboriginal owners, and become the heritage of the dominant world races”

and

“The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages.”

8.  He fought corruption in various offices he held throughout his life, including president of the NYC police commissioners.  He was credited with reforming that police department, which had been considered one of the most corrupt in the country.  His efforts to root out corruption and end “machine politics” while governor of New York led to his being chosen for McKinley’s running mate.

9.  He first said the famous line, “Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far” at the Minnesota State Fair in 1901.

10. His oldest daughter, Alice, was known for being a bit of trouble at the White House.  When someone asked if he couldn’t do a better job of disciplining her, he reportedly replied,

“I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.” 

She, in turn, once said that he wanted to be…

“the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.”

Want to find out more about Theodore Roosevelt, from the Panama Canal to Rough Riders to how he first said “Good to the last drop” while drinking Maxwell House coffee?  Wikipedia has quite a bit of info– the good, the bad and the just plain interesting.

Turns out that Anna did a bit of strewing with her comment and it worked on me!