About this Blog

On an average day, my daughter’s question-to-declarative sentence ratio clocks in at a healthy 5:1. Fortunately, she asks really interesting questions. Many are easy to answer, but some are real stumpers. Especially for an English major like me. This blog explores what happens when “I don’t know” is followed by “Let’s find out!”

Although Caterpickles primarily chronicles the crazy questions a curious preschooler asks (and the experiments that naturally follow from them) such as:

• “Are caterpillars ticklish?” (the question that started it all)
• “What else pops balloons, Mommyo?”
• “Could a T. Rex lift a woolly mammoth?“
• “When Santa goes on vacation, do the elves get to go too?“

Inevitably books are read and talked about here too. Mostly on Thursdays (or whenever the mood strikes).

(The books on Caterpickles are mostly picture and chapter books suitable for sharing with preschool and early elementary school children. If you’d like to learn more about the books I read when The Five-Year-Old isn’t around, come visit me on my other blog, BostonWriters.)

Necessary Disclaimer:

Nothing on this blog should be viewed as anything other than a mom looking for fun ways to spend time with her preschooler. Some questions we’ll explore lend themselves to hands-on experimentation and some don’t. That’s why I carry an iPhone at all times in the field. The system’s limitations generally mean that I can only access one or two sites before losing my daughter’s interest, but that’s usually good enough to get me to the next question. While no parent wants to pump her child full of misinformation, I’m also working with a Five-Year-Old here, and so am not concerned about doing the sort of thorough research you’d want to see in actual science.

So while I hope you enjoy my site, I wouldn’t base your next science report on it.