I wanted to talk about a technique my mother used to use on so many things. It was a really simple way she would measure things. It could be how bad a cut hurt when I fell off my bike, to judging the taste of a meal at a restaurant. I'm talking about using the Scale of 1 to 10. What you assign the numbers depends on the context but it became a common way in our family to measure things. It help teach kids measurement and analysis. Here are a few examples: Your 7 year old gets hit in the back by a ball and starts crying. You can say, from a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being doesn't hurt at all and 10 you have to go to the hospital immediately, how bad does it hurt. It then forces them to evaluate the seriousness of a situation. Here is another example in your own life: You got invited to an office party that your not sure you want to go to. You can assign a number to it. 1 is a horrible, boring party and 10 is the best time of your life. You can have a measurement for yourself that says when things are under 5, I will choose not to go, unless there is a really good reason. But it does help you evaluate situations and assign value to them. This works in business all the time. You see customer surveys or evaluations that include scales like this. Why not include it in our own lives. Alan, have you ever used a scale like this in your own life? Of course people have used the scale for evaluating how someone looks. The truth is you can apply this to so many things in your children's life. You can teach them how to evaluate things. Here are some examples: From a scale of 1 to 10: How much do you like soccer? 1 you hate it and 10 you love it. We have a few different choices of what to do on Saturday. How badly do you want to go to the park? 1 you don't want to versus 10 you can't live without going to the park. Then follow up with evaluating the alternative When they get hurt, it's a great tool. From a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does your finger hurt? You get the idea. Teach your kids the 1 to 10 scale it really helps measure the things around you. Thanks mom.