Not stories but...
Fermi estimates can be fun for kids (How many gumballs in this gumball machine is a classic) though for a three year old, it may be too advanced. How many action figures fit in this glass?
Three year olds can play "Guess the animal" which is 20 questions with some leeway on the yes/no part ("is it bigger or smaller than horse" is always our first question). Ingrain some binary search algorithms!
Depends on your definition of 'non-profit' and how that influences your thought of reasonably priced. I see that term refer to three very different entities: 1) Organizations who are basically large businesses that have a "not-for-profit" status accorded to them by the IRS (NY Presbyterian Hospital) 2) Organizations that are donor-based or membership-driven and very successful (United Way, Red Cross) 3) Organizations that are donation-based and run on a budget between "small business" and shoestring
I'm guessing you're asking about #3 and likely on the shoestring side, which really means you're looking for a free or very low-cost solution. And I don't know good answers to that. (If you're not on a shoestring, then Blackbaud makes the industry-standard software).
I have built custom-software for several non-profits. Requirements are somewhat similar but most organizations prefer to have their own customizations (a chamber music non-profit wants to keep track of ticket sales in addition to donors; the head of a children's performing arts org doesn't isn't tech savvy enough to understand the default interface; everyone wants custom reports).
I'm not interested in working in that market again for the foreseeable future, so this is not a pitch. I've charged between $5K and $10K for a custom solution and $200 per user annually for maintenance. Some non-profits have approached me and blanched at the cost. Depending on your goals, I can make a business case for the expense (though now I'd say Blackbaud might be a better choice than custom).
The last time I did the research was 3 years ago, and there could be a reasonable web-based package out there for $50/user per month. Some may charge per donor ($100 per 500 donors per month or something). If those prices are out of your range, then you're probably stuck.
I see what you're saying; I'm just blanking a bit as I try to think of any reasonable mid-term goals.
Don't have goals. Find something you like doing that also is exercise. Maybe it's a partnered sport like racquetball. Maybe it's juggling, walking in the woods. It can even just be something sedentary programming and you can make it exercise by doing it on a treadmill.
Much as immortality seems to be a popular goal around here, "I want to live a long time" and "I want to be immortal" are both abstract and distant goals, which complicates motivation. My brain (and I suspect other people's brains) responds better to goals that are more concrete and closer in time.
E.g.
"I want to improve my chances that the hot girl/guy that works in the next department over will say yes when I ask them out"
or
"I want to run that 5k next summer in less than 30 minutes"
are much more concrete and immediate goals, and therefore more likely to succeed as motivation.
Hmmm...I'm not sure this is good advice. Goals per se aren't usually great motivators. And I'd say sex is a better motivator than an abstract numerical achievement. And "Next summer" is not immediate.
After reading Scott Adams' article about goals versus systems, I decided to create a system for losing weight (I am 20 pounds heavier than I think is optimal for my health). The first part of the system is simply counting calories. No restrictions, just being aware. I plan on doing this for two weeks, then start changing my diet.
11 days ago, I started tracking my food using LoseIt and have found it extremely useful. The holidays have been intense (several days of eating 2x my daily "requirement").
The biggest thing I have found that meals of 250-600 calories leave me feeling sated but not tired.
I am learning to use stenographic typing, and I have made enough progress to type up this post. Slowly. You have no clue how long this is taking. But I can write, slowly, and that is enough to make it easier to learn more and to practice more.
I hope to get much, much faster at this. It is a simple matter of practice, though. I am doing a lot of stopping and looking stuff up, and that is where most of my time is spent.
150 WPM is my long term goal. At that point it is better than anything I could get from a qwerty layout, even with infinite practice.
Links:
http://plover.stenoknight.com/
I know Mirabai Knight, of stenoknight. She's a great person and doing strong work in lower the cost of entry to becoming a stenographer.
A long comment and one that seems to draw conclusions that are not really supported by my too short post (I really shouldn't have posted in Comments). But the comment poses a few point's I'd like to address.
The core problem here is that the child is behaving in a way that you do not want them to behave in.
Wanting the child to do something is one reason. Concrete needs another. You wouldn't disagree that I'd need to call back a small child from a high traffic street or a cliff or a dangerous animal or a poisonous thing. These are immediate and obvious.
How much time to take with a child that want's to pick up stones when you are on the way to kindergarten or the job is a moderate need you have to balance your own desires with the childs. Maintaining a household with six persons can mean one does everything or all share a part of the work. And there are lots of differnt ways to achieve some balance of needs in this. But whatever the balance is - it involves certain feedback. Talking alone will not do it - although it is necccessary to establish a context.
the trump card: "If you do X, I will be sad and disappointed in you."
I can't use that. First of all it would be a lie. I wouldn't be sad or disappointed. At worst I would ask me what I did wrong in the first place. Second I can't bear applying emotional pressure. Third I have seen it used on my children and it didn't work.
The main trouble with my approach is that [...] older parents try this approach, and find themselves consistently losing arguments [and then] switch to lazy shortcuts, such as playing the part of an authority [...]
Sure that is a way out that sometimes has to be taken - because sometimes you are tired and the smaller children need to sleep because they don't understand that they have to go to kindergarten the next day early...
And I have lots arguments with my older children and not played the authority card. I accepted that I erred.
One problem with arguments with children can be that they want to win and use all the rhetoric tricks they have at their disposal. They didn't read EYs posts on the dangers of rhetoric and fully general counter arguments. An argument with a child isn't neccessarily a harmonious thing. At least not when a significant issue is on the line. You will not resolve such an issue with patience. I try often enough. And I can 'win' by patience. Once I lost an hour of range and no agreement in the middle of the day while three other children were unattended.
Just consider though - if this were an adult, you'd have to do it the hard way.
The hard way with an adult would often enough mean to go different ways. That is an option that is closed for parents. Both by their affection toward their children as well as by our society.
these are just my interactions with parents, interactions with children
Interacting with other persons children is quite different from with your own. And exactly beause they are not yours. You can send them back to their parents and they can go back their parents and in such a situation they basically behave like autonomous persons (if they feel safe but aduls also have to feel safe).
It's important to recognize that not all children respond to the same incentives.
I have a parentally anti-authortarian master game theorist for a six year old whose "natural consequences" are often disastrous. It takes a lot of finesse to manipulate him. A combination of honest, fun engagement and honest, threatened punishments. That's not a necessary or desirable response to other children though.
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Is anyone else studying ASL?
Yes. I'm "ASL IV" level. I'm conversationally expressive, less so receptive.
Do you have interest in collaborating on Anki decks? I'm thinking video clips with English glosses. I'd also love a ASL/English dictionary that was searchable by handshape, body location, movement, etc.