"When Maria Lando was pregnant with her second child, she and her husband decided to buy a house. But it wasn’t clear where they should live: Lando worked in downtown Boston, her husband worked in Charlestown, and their son’s day care was in Newton."
“And then waiting for yet another open house, sitting in the car when my son was asleep in the back, we were like, ‘This is insane,’ ’’ recalls Lando, who was then pregnant with their second child. “It should be a mathematical problem.’’
So they searched for houses along a wide swath of suburban Boston, going to dozens of open houses, looking for good schools and a home that would cut down the two hours a day they were spending driving back and forth.
She grabbed a piece of paper and starting jotting down equations to figure out where they should live. Her conclusion: They should move close to their son’s day care. While they each drove to and from their offices each day, they had to make two trips to day care - one to drop their son off, another for pickup. The decision helped narrow their search, and they soon found their dream house in Needham.
This was more than six years ago, and in 2008 Lando launched her blog - and identity - as the Math Mom (www.themathmom.com). Her motto: “Life is a puzzle. Solve it with numbers.’’ She wanted to encourage other people - especially mothers - to learn to love math.