Our family has embraced the crossword challenge with gusto. This week the advantage, unfair or not, of those who live in Europe ended. When Hope landed at JFK she relinquished a six hour head start. There will be unfilled boxes when I log on this morning. Last Tuesday there were none. We easterners still have an edge over the west coast contingent, but they are early risers and hold their own. 

 

Our stats are juicy. Six hundred puzzles finished, an unbroken streak of twelve squared, and most recently a solve rate of 100%. I understand the first two, but the third has me wondering. Does it mean we have completed every one we started? That seems unlikely. Anyway a recent puzzle surprised me. There were colors embedded in the grid which magically arrived at the Congratulations! I feel like my granddaughter at her birthday party last week when she waved a huge pencil and John suddenly made red and blue and yellow appear in his coloring book. 

 

I love that the effort is communal. Odhners pop in and out of the current challenge as jobs allow, and if someone is flagging they recruit. 

 

I am curious about the men and women who create them. My kids have looked such things up, especially for our favorites. I have an urge to chat with these wordsmiths. Watch as they fiddle with vowels. Clap them on the back for a noun that nestles in between axiomatic and flimsy. We have ventured into crafting our own for birthdays and Mother's Day. It is a second flavor of accomplishment.

 

100%. There are not many instances of complete success sprinkled in my routine. This week I neglected to double check that Ben took his meds at bedtime, resulting in loudness at eleven. I continue to take walks, but have skipped a few days. 

 

Who can reach the goal every time? Fortunately there were no such metrics following my mothering career for the past forty years. It could be incriminating. 

 

Stayed calm 40%

Listened well 34%

Healthy meal 56%

Kids clean and dressed 47%

 

It's just as well that the missed objectives faded into oblivion. It turns out not to have long term consequences that my toddlers fell asleep in their rumpled clothes, or missed their green leafies. Perhaps the less measurable score lies in the repetition of effort to wash, to serve, to hug, to cheer. 

 

Plus it is to my advantage to ask for recruits when I need them.