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Word gap because of stress

One of the things I noticed during the pandemic, a period of high stress, was that I was getting terse and annoyed at our kids more often.

It’s like a house guest that stays too long… things that you could endure for a little bit start to magnify. And when they stay for 24-hours a day for 18 months, it’s not surprising that all the annoying things that your kids do become really really really annoying. (thankfully we have camps and whatnot now so the kids are, for the most part, back to a regular schedule)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Presence, especially 24 hours and 18 months, makes the heart … something else. 🙂

This is all to say that this next finding is not at all surprising to me and a good reminder that I have to be better:

Word gap: When money’s tight, parents talk less to kids [Berkeley News] – “While parenting deficiencies have long been blamed for the word gap, new UC Berkeley research implicates the economic context in which parenting takes place — in other words, the wealth gap. The findings, published this month in the journal Developmental Science, provide the first evidence that parents may talk less to their kids when experiencing financial scarcity.”

I bet you could replace financial scarcity with general chronic stress (which is harder to measure) and find similar results.

a million chances to fail [The Reformed Broker] – “Poisoning an audience and selling it the antidote takes very little talent. Holding the audience’s hand, through thick and thin, ups and downs, through years and decades of fear and greed – that’s about the hardest thing you can do in this industry. It’s what Jack Bogle did for longer than anyone. It’s admirable because it’s so hard.”

Ethereum Co-Founder Says Safety Concern Has Him Quitting Crypto [Bloomberg] – “Di Iorio, 48, has had a security team since 2017, with someone traveling with or meeting him wherever he goes. In coming weeks, he plans to sell Decentral Inc., and refocus on philanthropy and other ventures not related to crypto. The Canadian expects to sever ties in time with other startups he is involved with, and doesn’t plan on funding any more blockchain projects.” Hmmm…

Finally, how forgery experts determine if a painting is fake, specifically a Jackson Pollock.