As Kat puts it, school has taught her something useful recently. It�s not what you�d expect. Yes, she�s learned a bit of history, some algebra, a little Spanish, and something about literature. But that�s not what she�s so proud of. No, she�s proud of something that has been more difficult and taken her longer to learn. She�s proud of something that she learned during an extracurricular activity. In a friend�s words, she�s �finally learned to screw.�

It�s not what you�re thinking. Yes, she went on a long bicycle ride with B-O-Y today. (Obviously, we�re having an atypical Wisconsin winter.) But this particular extracurricular activity is not related to him. The time she�s spent with him, she�s spent out in public, usually doing atypically athletic things (which is how we know just how sweet on him she is.)

It�s not especially related to boys at all, although there were boys present when she achieved this great height. It�s related to hardware although computers have nothing to do with it. Computers have never frustrated Kat the way this activity has. Kat is theatrical, not technical. She loves stages and musicals, not keyboards and HTML.

No, it�s related to building, specifically building sets. She learned to use a level quickly. She dutches* reasonably well. She�s very good when you say, �Hold this.� But, with her coordination, using a power screwdriver took some doing. As anyone who has done it will tell you, screws don�t go in straight just because you want them to. Technique matters and after numerous failed attempts, she has it�most of the time.

Yes, she can screw. Teach her to use a ratchet and pliers and high school might actually make her into a useful child to have around.

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*Dutching is a process for sticking muslin to a set. You take a long piece of muslin and paint one side with paint. You then paint the corner of the set where you are trying to apply the muslin. You stick the muslin to the corner, paint-to-paint. Then you paint over the white side of the muslin liberally and you smooth out the edges of the muslin so they don�t show.

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