But the result was bland - boring enough to ruin my kids' morning. I thought of which ingredients were best to add. I thought of adding more sweetener, cheese, and pepper. I tried to approximate the amount of each ingredient that I would put in to make the outcome what I envisioned it to be. I carefully thought of the ingredients to add and at which amount to avoid wastage. Fortunately, I achieved the sweet-sour-spicy taste I was looking for. As I was preparing breakfast, I thought of passing by the grocery later in the afternoon before heading home. I thought of the items I should buy - which stocks ran out, which products come with which, products needed in my menu for the week, and other items that the kids asked for. I listed all these to ensure that I would not miss any, and then I calculated how much I would be spending. Come nighttime, I helped my kids with their homework. My eldest has an exam the next day so I also helped him review his lessons. Their teacher did not specify which type of exam it would be, so I helped him prepare for multiple-choice, identification, and even essay-type exams. I scanned his notes and books, and asked him about the items that might come out in the multiple-choice or identification types of exam. For the essay type, I thought of situations and let him explain its relevance to the topics they have been discussing in school. After helping my kids with their schoolwork, it was time for me to deal...

I tried to recall how my day went - my activities - in order to pick out those in which I used formal operational thinking. But I was not able to focus. It has been a stressful day, and during that time I did not know if I was mad, irritated, or just tired. I took time to reflect, and realized that I cannot be mad. Mad with what or with whom? It must be that I was just tired, so I decided to rest for a while, and then got on with this paper.
In each of the above-mentioned activities, I made use of formal operational thinking. I was able to understand abstract concepts, such as anger. I made use of logical problem-solving in trying to fix the shower. Processing hypothetical situations came in while reviewing my eldest for his exam, thinking of what I should be buying in the grocery, and what would happen if I add an ingredient to my pasta sauce. All these show logical thinking and reasoning, that adolescents and adults (like me) engage in formal operational thinking everyday and every time. People do this without being aware that they are already doing so; it happens fast and it almost always happens, that is why they are not aware that they already do delve in abstract concepts, process hypothetical situations, and that their thinking, reasoning and their thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving is systematic and logical.

Santrock, J.W. (2004). Life span development (9th Ed.). New…