Just because I'm the adult leading the class doesn't mean I have any answers.

I'm not one who can easily talk about serious things.  I tend to keep things to myself...deep down, bottled up.  I just don't like to deal with things that may be painful or uncomfortable.

Tonight, like every Monday night, I will be leading a Christian education class of 30 5th graders at our church.  Tonight is scheduled to be a "fun" night before we take a few weeks off for Christmas.

I am very afraid that the conversation may turn to Newtown, Connecticut.  I don't know how I will deal with that.  I've barely let myself think about what happened, let alone have to explain to these kids why such things can happen.

I know it's probably not what's best, but I really hope we can get by with our Nativity story activity, Christmas bingo game, hot chocolate and candy canes.

I have many friends that are teachers...and I want to ask them, "How do you do it?"
You are my hero just for showing up to work today!
I want to give each of you a hug.

Mr. Tomlinson, can you please call the school....

Yesterday morning, I had a voicemail message asking me to call the school.  I was not looking forward to my eight hour shift at Target, so I was hopeful the message was about a sick kid that would need me to skip work and sit on the couch all day watching Cartoon Network.  But I was not so lucky.

Apparently, my son had been involved in an incident before school...fighting over who got to hold the door open as the class went in to the building.  According to what the assistant principal told me, my son was pushed and then hit in the face with a lunchbox.  She went on to say that he said it hurt a lot and that he had been crying.  But they had all talked it out and he was fine now, and back in class.

When I became a Stay-at-home-parent, one of the big plusses was that I would be home when my kids got home from school.  But as is the case when you work retail in December, my shifts have been getting longer.  And while normally I am home at 3:30 when they get off the school bus, yesterday I was scheduled to work until 4:30.  Again, normally that extra hour would not be a big deal.  They are old enough now to hang out by themselves for an hour.  But in my mind, that hour would be horrible for my son.  He would be an emotional wreck after such a traumatic day at school.

As I went through my work day, I kept picturing him curled up in a ball on the couch crying his eyes out.  And I would not be there to comfort him.

I must admit my mind went to what I could buy him to make him feel better.  (isn't that what good parents do?)  Supper at McDonalds?  A new Skylander?  A new DS game?

I also thought this situation would be much easier to deal with if my son was the one that did the pushing and the hitting.  Then you just yell at them.

But what to do when you son is the victim?  All I wanted to do was hug him and protect him.

When 4:20 came, I snuck out of work early (don't tell anyone) and raced home.

Found Andrew playing Minecraft on the computer like always...not in the fetal position in the corner.
"Hey buddy, how was your day?" I asked, trying not to pry it out of him in front of his sister in case he was embarrassed.
"Fine," not even looking up from his game.

A few minutes later:
"Anything happen at school today?"
"No."

Then at bedtime, I finally asked if he wanted to talk about what happened holding the doors open.
He asked how I found out....and that was it.

Nothing.

So either he is fine, or he's bottling it all up and it will spill out in the future.

Then I gave him an extra long hug.  I figured that would help either way.

Excuse me while I get a little emotional

I cried in the movie theater watching "High School Musical 3."
I cried watching the "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" movie at home on my couch.
I cry at movies....a lot.
I cry listening to the Celine Dion song "Come To Me."

I can't remember if I've always been that way, or if (as I think is the case) my brain to tear duct connection turned into an expressway when I became a dad.

Yesterday I cried, and I can't really figure out why.

I had just watched my 6th grade daughter run in a cross country meet.
I didn't cry tears of joy because she won.  She probably came in about 30th of 40 runners.
I didn't cry out of sorrow because of how slow she was.  She was far from the slowest runner there, and finished with a smile on her face.  She always tries hard and has fun.

Yet, as I walked to my car, I was almost sobbing.  And I had no idea why.

As I drove home, I tried to figure it out.  And here is what I came up with.

I was overwhelmed by the incredible potential of my children.  A middle school cross country meet by itself is not that big of a deal....but it's just one more building block, one more memory, one more piece of the puzzle that is becoming an amazing young lady.

Children are awesome, scary, inspiring, humbling...and make me cry.  But in a very good way.

Dude, you're a dragon!

As you've seen before, sometimes I write stories and put them on this blog.  They are either based on my kids, inspired by my kids, co-written by my kids, or just things I think kids would like.  This one is inspired by my awesome son.  He is really into dragons at the moment....he is also really into saying "dude."

Originally they idea was to write a story about a boy that spends all of his time playing video games until one day his dad makes him go outside to play.  He meets a dragon in his backyard and they have an adventure.  But I was having trouble getting started...all I could come up with was a list of "Dude" phrases they boy would say.  So that became the whole thing.

As I've also said before, I can't draw worth a hill of beans....and this story is 99% visual.
So I tried something different instead of using my weak drawing attempts.

Let me know what you think.

Dude, You're A Dragon

“Dude, I’m home.”

"Blah blah blah blah blah"

"Dude, what’s for supper?”

“Dude, I’ll do my home work later.”

“Dude, it’s too hot outside.”

“Dude, it’s too boring.”

“Dude, you’re a dragon!”

“Dude, don’t eat that!”

“Dude, are you for real?”

“Dude, where did you come from?”

“Dude, can you fly?”

“Dude, not too high!”

“Dude, where are we?”

“Dude, this is awesome!”

“Dude, wait!”

“Dude, don’t go!”

“Dude, will you be back?”

“Dude!”

What's Next on the Career Path?

We have a "Daily Celebrations" calendar in our kitchen.  Most days I'll write something on it for the day....as simple as "had Pizza Hut for supper" or as monumental as "Allison was born at 1:52."

Yesterday I was reminded that back in 1997 I had a job interview at a Minneapolis TV station.  The job was Traffic Coordinator....which was a job I was not in the least qualified for.  But I knew I didn't want to be a computer programmer forever, and I did have some TV production classes while in college, so I applied for the job and got an interview.

(When I got the call for the interview, I had no idea what a traffic coordinator at a tv station did, and that was before you could google it, so I remember driving to the public library in Edina to research the old fashioned way - in books!)

I didn't get the job...in fact I think I called back the next day to tell them I wasn't interested.  I knew I would have been in way over my head....which I'm sure they could tell from the interview.

Any way...remembering that interview got me thinking of all the other jobs I've thought about taking over the years since I finished college and started my I.T. "career":

• Interviewed at WCCO radio in Minneapolis to be an engineer/call screener for their morning show
• Interviewed with Walgreens to be an assistant manager
• A couple interviews for different I.T. positions
• Went to a meeting about becoming an unpaid intern for an oldies radio station
• Had a couple bank teller interviews
• Sent an application to the school district to be a preschool classroom helper
• Applied to be an office assistant for the Cities Parks and Rec department
• Had a phone call about working with the YMCA after school child care
• Started working at Target

And after all that....I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  But as each year passes, and my kids get older and more self-sufficient, I'm getting closer to needing to figure out the next step.  The "at-home-parent" tag only works when there are kids at home that need me (or at least I can pretend they need me).

So what I'm looking for is for you all to help me brainstorm ideas.
What should I do next?
What do you do?
What would you do if you could do anything.  (mine is play third base for the Phillies.)

The good, the bad, and the random.

You probably would never guess from reading my posts, but I don't put a lot of time in on these things.  There is not a lengthy writing and editing process that goes on here at the Everyday Adventure offices....I just sit down, type for two minutes and hit the "Publish" button.

I wanted to point that out, because I'm sure this list would be much, much longer (and funnier) if I'd actually take some time to organize my ideas.

Pros to being a stay-at-home parent:

• Listening to Crowded House really really loud while folding laundry*
• Eating potstickers and Doritos for lunch
• The first two days of the NCAA Tournament
• Day playoff baseball games
• Lots of time for marathon training

Cons to being a stay-at-home parent

• Not seeing people all day
• The $50 paycheck every other Friday**
• Lots of time for marathon training
• When the ice breaker "So, what do you do?" question is asked when meeting new people at social gatherings 

* This is what inspired this post today.   :)

**A true stay-at-home parent would have even less.  I cheat here by working 4 hours a week at Target.

Ironman (follow-up)

Just wanted to add video proof of the awesome spectator experience.  If you go to this link, and select "Finish Line 3" from the list of videos and go to the end, you can see the crowd cheering in the last finishers.  The best is at about 2:08:10 when there is one guy left with a chance to finish before the 17 hour cut-off....it is awesome!

http://live.ironman.com/?race=wisconsin&year=2012#axzz266ME4duI

Ironman

I posted this on facebook last year...but I thought I'd share it again as Team Becky prepares for Sunday's race.

Becky and I spent last weekend in Madison volunteering and watching the 2011 Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon.  I can't imagine a better example of sportsmanship, determination, camaraderie and support...and that's just among the spectators.  I've never done an Ironman, so I'm not sure how it feels from that side of the cheering, but I know I got goosebumps and was moved to tears several times throughout the day as a spectator.  

If you ever go to watch an event, don't just pay attention to the leaders.  Yes, there is a lot of cheering for the first swimmer out of the water, but that is nothing compared to the last swimmers.  The ones struggling to make the 2 hour 20 minute cut off.  The cheering for those swimmers, and the smiles on their faces when they make it out of the water is priceless.  And when a thousand people standing on the shore are yelling and clapping and banging cowbells to try and encourage swimmers on, even after the time limit has passed and we all know they will not be able to continue in the race...it takes your breath away.

Our race day volunteer duties were at the end of the bike ride (which is 112 miles by the way).  A group of volunteers meets the riders at the finish and helps them off their bike.  The first several riders barely slow down and sort of hop off the bike, never stopping and just continue on running into the transition area.  Again, it is fun to watch those athletes, but to me, it is much more fun to watch the riders that come in three, four, and even five hours later.  The ones that tell you with a smile on their face that they never want to see their bike again.  Or the ones that can barley lift their leg high enough to get off the bike (and they still have a full marathon to run!).  The riders showing bad cases of "road rash" asking where they can find some band-aids.  These are the people that get the loudest support from the crowd.  Everyone is there cheering for their own family and friends....but in those hours and for that day, we cheer for everyone.  

One of my favorite moments from Sunday was at about 5:28 p.m.  (the cutoff to finish the bike is 5:30) about twenty-five volunteers met a rider about 200 yards from the finish and ran along beside him to make sure he wouldn't slow down.  (I get tears just thinking back on it.)

And then of course there is the finish line itself.  After 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running (walking, stumbling, shuffling) thousands of people cheering, the music blaring, the announcer yelling names of people as they finish with emphatic "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"   I've been to 4 Ironman races, and I have to admit that I've never seen the winners finish.  That's because they finish well before the last of the bikers finish the bike portion of the race, and I'm always still watching them.  But I have been there at midnight, when the last several people finish.  That's 17 HOURS!!!!! after the race began.  There's nothing like standing near a group of people, strangers from all of the country, and suddenly one of them yells, "THERE SHE IS!!!!" and a dozen people (all in matching "support team" shirts) go crazy yelling and crying and hugging and jumping all at once.  The joy is infectious, and we all share a little in it.  We become an extended member of their support team for a minute....until the someone else yells "THERE HE IS!!!" and it all starts over again. 

I can't wait for next year's triathlon...to feel the energy and support and to see all of the extended members of "Team Becky!"  

When I was in school...

"How do you think the whole 'gym clothes' thing works?" my wife asked.

"Well, when I was in school," I said, "we just kept them in a locker and brought them home every Friday to be washed."

This will be the first year our daughter changes clothes for gym, and we were going over the school supply checklist one more time.

Why is it that my "when I was in school"comment seemed totally acceptable.  Of course I can use my experience and apply it to today's situation...but if my parents had used that kind of thinking 20 (30?) years ago, it would have been totally irrelevant.  How could their school experiences have any relationship at all to me in the 1980s?  Nonsense, I would have thought....things have changed too much since the olden days when my parents were in school.

Years are somehow getting shorter and shorter every year.

Gamer - Old School Style

My son is a gamer.  If it was up to him he'd be playing video games from the time he gets out of bed until the time he gets back in bed.  Oh wait...that is what he does.

Of course his games are much more advanced than what I had back in the day, but I can remember spending many an hour in my basement on the Commodore 64 playing games.  My all time favorite was MicroLeague Baseball.  Compared to today's sports video games it hardly qualifies as a sports game, but I loved it.

It was all about strategy and statistics and it was AWESOME.

I'm sure there were days my mom wondered if I would ever leave the basement.  

If I would ever go outside again.  

If I would ever do anything but play that game.  (much like I think those things about Andrew today.)

The best thing about MicroLeague baseball was when we bought the General Manager/Owner upgrade  disk that allowed us to build our own teams.
I proudly present to you the starting lineup of the Bay City Pumas:

• SS  Jake McKinnon (character from Another World - one of my teen years summer guilty pleasures)
• CF Mike Nesmith (or "Woolhat" as his teammates called him)
• 2B Mickey Dolenz (I still regret trading him to a friend's team....not even sure who I got in return...maybe Ed Asner.)
• 3B Nathan Tomlinson (of course batting clean up and playing third base - just like Mike Schmidt)
• 1B Rick Springfield (probably the first player I created)
• RF Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver
• LF  Tony Dow (sometimes I used the character names, sometimes I used the actors names)
• C Tony Schiavone (Shout out to my NWA wrestling fan days)

My pitching rotation was anchored by Hugh Beaumont (google him...you'll know him.  I'm pretty sure he is the winningest pitcher in MicroLeague Baseball History).

And with a bench filled with people like Bobby Brady, Hercule Poirot (They aren't all from TV, I did read too), Maxwell Smart, and Sam Drucker (you may need to google him too) I had the coolest team ever assembled.

More stories from Target

Thoughts from my weekend working at Target.  (maybe I should change the name of my blog to adventures with a Target employee....but that would mean admitting I've been there long enough to have lots of stories....my plan was just to work there for the 08-09 school year)

First of all, if you have not done your school supply shopping yet, what are you waiting for?  If you can't find any yellow folders, or red pens, it's not Target's fault.  They've had them out since early July! At this point, the selection is well picked over.

I don't claim to be a great parent.  If you've read this blog before, you'll know I regularly admit to being pretty clueless most of the time.  But I heard a couple things at Target over the weekend that makes me think there are others out there struggling with it just as much as I am.

6 year old girl to her mom, "I picked out a backback!"  Holds up a plain green backpack.
Mom to 6 year old daughter, "Are you sure you want that one?  All of your friends will have backpacks with designs on them."
Girl goes and picks out another one.
Mom says, "Not that one....how will you feel when all of the other kids have fancier backbacks than you?"

Really?  Wow.
Or  this one...again, it's a mom and her 6ish year old daughter.

Mom: "Pick out a new towel for your bathroom.  What ever you want."
Girl grabs one and hands it to mom.
Mom: "Not that one....it doesn't match the colors in the bathroom."
repeat
repeat
repeat
eventually....Mom:"Here, let's get this nice red and yellow striped one."

Not so much "what ever you want," was it.

I felt bad for those kids....but I feel bad for the parents too.
They're obviously just as clueless as I am.

Breakfast for two

"Fao and I are hungry,"  my daughter announced as she came to the table.  "Can we have some apples for breakfast?"  So I cut up an apple.

"Does Fao like the peel on or off?" I asked.

"Off.  She's never had an apple before, but she's taking my advice on this one."

I will miss mornings like this.  I'm sure there aren't too many left with my soon to be 12 year old daughter.

After they finished off the apples, they took a few minutes to read the comics before snuggling on the couch for some cartoons.

It must have skipped a generation.

The difference between my dad and me....a hypothetical example.

• January 1, 2013: 10:00 a.m....While putting away Christmas decorations, Nathan notices a spot on the living room wall where the paint needs to be touched up.
• January 21, 2013:  6:30 p.m.....Nathan tells his wife, "I found a spot....we should paint that sometime."
• March 3, 2013:  11:15 a.m.....Nathan sees spot again.  Wonders if he has any paint left in the basement.
• December 1, 2013:  8:00....While putting out Christmas decoration, Nathan notices a spot on the living room wall where the paint needs to be touched up.

Meanwhile....a few blocks down the road....

• January 1, 2013:  10:00 a.m....While putting away Christmas decorations, my dad notices a spot on the living room wall where the paint needs to be touched up.
• January 1, 2013:  11:15 a.m....My dad tells my mom,  "Maybe I can get a second coat on before lunch."
• January 1, 2013:  2:00 p.m....Entire house has been repainted with two coats.  Garage has been cleaned, and sidewalk shoveled.

Good Luck Wimpy Kid at Trombone Lessons in South Dakota about to turn 40 (or - random thoughts for the day)

"Good Luck Charlie" just may be the best show on tv right now.  Always makes me laugh.
Of course "Phineas and Ferb" is always good too.
Let's call it a tie.
I watch both of those even when the kids aren't around.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my son loves the "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" books.  He really wanted me to read them too....so I read the first one.  It.  Was.  AWESOME!
Really funny.
Really good book.
It's written like I would like to write a book....if I could write a book.

Trombone lessons may not be going as well as we hoped.  What happens if he can't do it?  Or will it eventually click for him.  He has the melodies and is getting the slide positions down....but every note sounds the same.  There is no high or low.
I hope he hangs in there long enough to get it....but I sense a breakdown approaching.
He's good at bottling his frustrations until the spill out unexpectedly.

If we had a never ending travel budget and unlimited vacation time for my wife, I'd love to take the kids to the Black Hills and to Washington D.C.  Those two have been on the list for a while, but we haven't been able to fit them in yet.  What else should be on that list?  Grand Canyon?  Yellowstone?  Citizens Bank Park?

Only about a week and a half until the crisis hits....

Fantasy Dad role-model

A fun article talking about Arthur Weasley (from the Harry Potter books) as a great dad.

I would love to have my dad skills described like this:

“Mr. Weasley is quirky, funny, and he’s also very generous and forgiving of his children. "

http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/19/the-best-dad-of-fantasy-fiction/?hpt=hp_bn11

Molly Weasley: *Your* sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night. 
Arthur Weasley: [to the boys] Did you really? How did it go? 
[after Molly hits him] 
Arthur Weasley: I mean, that was very wrong indeed, boys. Very wrong of you. 

Thank you to the inventor of Littlest Pet Shop

The first annual SAHD Awards go to the guy that writes the "Diary of A Wimpy Kid" books, and who  ever it was that invented the Littlest Pet Shop toys.

My son has read all the books in the Wimpy Kid series, twice, and is looking forward to when then next book is released.  And if you know my boy, you know that is quite unusual.

And for the Littlest Pet Shop toys, wow.  My kids will play together nicely for hours...days even with those things.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Great story from another blog.

Let me start by saying I love Disney World.  My wife and I honeymooned there.  We've taken our kids three times, and will hopefully take them many more times.  And then we'll take the grandkids some day.  My wife and I have run a marathon at Disney World.  My secret dream is to retire and work in the All-Star Movies resort gift shop.

(on a weird side note - the other day I was listing my all-time favorite restrooms, and the top two are both at Disney World....but that's a story for another blog entry....or maybe I should just keep that kind of weird information to myself)

Here is a link to a blog about a dad and his autistic son and the story of the final day of the Snow White ride at Disney World.  You may want to have some tissues handy if you make it through all six blog entires.

http://www.shmoolok.com/Blog/tabid/62/EntryId/53/SWSA-Final-Night-Prelude.aspx

The people at Disney are incredible!
What a fun story!

Summer vacation and bribery

Today is the first day of summer vacation.  Well...not really, school was over last Thursday, and we spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday camping....but today is the first day that the kids and I are home with nothing on the agenda.

But thanks to my son totally bombing a state capital test the last week at school and his desire to earn money for an Ipod, he and his sister are in the living room right now studying state capital flash cards.  We've made a deal that when he is ready to retest on them, he'll earn 50 cents for every right answer.   That may seem generous....but when you consider that he only got two right on the test (he even missed Wisconsin....and we live in Wisconsin...and his class took a field trip to Madison about a week before the test) I think the bribery level is just about right.

If we get past the state capitals, there are stil those pesky multiplication tables to bribe on study.

Another year slips away

I went to my son's school this morning to drop off some supplies for an end-of-the-year art project they will be doing next week.  As I walked in the door, the thought occurred to me that this may be the last time I enter Electa Quinney Elementary School.  After next week, both of my kids will have finished their time at the school (which includes first through fourth grades).  How can that be possible?

When we moved to Wisconsin eight years ago, Quinney was the big, dark, scary school down the block.  My tiny young kids wouldn't be there for years and years.  Blink.  Now they're both done.

All the field trips, math homework (and the tears that came with it), the glacier projects, the invention convention...all done.

I don't remember where I first heard this phrase, but it sums up parenthood very well:
The days are long, but the years are short.


On to the bigger, scarier Riverview Middle School.  (ok....it's probably not all that scary to look at, but when I think that my kids are old enough to be there, it sure scares me!)

I just do what I'm told.

My daughter made this sign when she lost an earring the other day.

We found the earring....I may leave the sign on for a while.

Everyday Adventures with a Retail Worker

A few thoughts from tonight's shift at Target.

I was working in the electronics department at Target tonight.  I don't particularly enjoy working in that department because people tend to assume I know something about electronics.  (shhhhh....I don't.)  So there was a couple that came in and asked me where the Ipads were.  I showed them the case they are stocked in and told them which versions we had.  The lady knew exactly which one she wanted, so I got it out of the locked display case for her.  Then I asked if she wanted a cover for it.  She knew just what she wanted so I grabbed that for her and we went to check out.  At the check out I mentioned that if they had a Target credit card, she could save 5%, so they opened a Target account and saved about $27.

So to review, she came in and knew what she wanted...all I did was get them for her.  When we were done, she said I was very helpful and she wanted to let me manager know how much she appreciated my help.

My thought is that is a pretty sad comment on the expectations of customers these days.  I offered no product insight, answered no questions, added absolutely nothing to her shopping experience (except for an extremely funny comment about Angry Birds)....and she is impressed by that?

I guess sometimes it pays to just be friendly.  You don't always get friendly from store workers.


Another guest in electronics tonight reminded me of a YouTube video I've been sent a couple times of a comedian talking about how people are quick to forget just how easy we have it these days.  For example, complaining about airplane snacks when they should just be amazed at the miracle of flight.  How we can get across the country in hours, where it used to take months and half of your travel party wouldn't survive the trip.

Well tonight, a 14ish year old boy was buying an Ipad.  He went on to complain about how much it cost...and how it really is just a big Ipod.  My thought was (grumpy old man alert!!):  In my day, if you wanted the same amount of computing power, the machine would be bigger than my house.  Now you have it in a notebook size miracle of modern science.   And you're just going to play Fruit Ninja anyway!  This boy has never know life without personal electronic devices that do what ever you want.  No need to think or learn.

Four Seasons In One Day

Crowded House has a song called "Four Seasons In One Day" and that title came to mind today as I went about my everyday adventures.....

Felt very young as I watched Disney Jr. with my daughter before school this morning.  These shows are aimed at young children, but my 11 year old daughter still loves to watch them, and her 39 year old dad still enjoys them too.  I don't think I will ever outgrow cartoons aimed at young children.

Felt very old as I pushed my dad around the hospital in a wheel chair.  And although the wheel chair wasn't totally necessary, (he has a broken foot and was there to have it checked out, and instead of having him use his crutches, they suggested a wheel chair), there is something very odd and humbling about pushing your dad in a wheel chair.  And the hospital setting made it all the more weird.

Felt very young as I ran my laps at the YMCA track.  With my schedule, it worked out best for me to run around noon.  Which is apparently when the older generation hits the track.  I was the youngest one there by decades.  I'm sure they wondered why they had to share the track with a youngster like me.

They say you are only as old as you feel....well, after today, I have no idea how old I am.


(which reminds me....I need to get started on my mid-life crisis blog entry.  Only about 3 months until 40....shudder)

Mystical Creatures update

A while back, I wrote about a story my daughter and I had written together.  She was sure it would be made into a book, and eventually a movie.  Well, we did send it to a few publishers and we got a very nice rejection email last week.  And it occurs to me that it is still pretty cool, that somebody sat in their office and read the story that we wrote.  Or at least they took the time to enter the title and our email address into their rejection email system.

So what follows here in this blog exclusive is an excerpt from "Mystical Creatures."  I've chosen two of my daughter's favorite sections.  Scenes that she thinks will be really cool in the movie version.

Queen Thorn met him in the great entrance hall.  “Why have you returned so soon Striker?”

“My queen,” he said as he bowed and held out the tiny dragon.

Thorn’s eyes grew large in excitement.  “You have done well my loyal servant,” she whispered while taking Promise from him.

“Yes, my queen,” he answered.  “And for my payment....”

“I will let you live,” she snapped before transforming into her dragon form and flying away.

...

Queen Thorn stroked the baby dragon as she spoke, “My darling child, soon you and I shall rule together.  With your power there will be no one to stop us,” she said with a wicked smile.

The baby dragon looked up, blew a puff of flame and smoke, and bit the evil queen’s finger.

Why not run?

When you decide to stay home with your kids, and then they decide to grow up and spend the whole day in school, it leaves you with a lot of free time.  Over the years, I've filled that time with a variety of things:

Working part-time,
playing playstation,
napping,
reading,
writing,
sleeping,
playing with the dog,
facebooking,
watching Spongebob,
getting some shuteye,
and blogging.
And on occasion....I run.  

The question I have for you today is:  Why don't I run more?  I've competed two marathons in my life, so I know I can do it.  Why don't I do another marathon?  It's not like I don't have time to train.  And I certainly could use the exercise.  So why not?

I did manage to run 5 miles today (and I'd like to give a shout out of thanks to the person that decided to build the Kaukauna city building on my route - and provide excellent public restrooms within.) and I'm feeling pretty good.  Maybe it's the "runner's high" talking,  but I think I'll look into some area fall marathons.

Laundry, bank accounts, reality vs. tv and other random thoughts

I don't know how families with more than two kids can possibly keep up with the laundry. I do laundry every day and I still can't keep up.

Before I became a SAHD (and gave up my paycheck) I would freak out if the check book balance got below $100...now as long as it's got any number besides 0.00, It's all good.

This is my first blog entry using my wife's new IPad....can you tell the difference? I can't get any time on our computer any more. (see earlier post about Minecraft.)

If there was a tv show about a SAHD, there would be a neighbor that comes over all the time, or a college buddy that he plays golf with every week, or a weekly poker group for him to hang out with. In real life, those people do not exist. I couldn't come up with one local non family member to put on a list for a possible event for my next birthday. (40, yikes!!!!)

I went to a funeral today, and I think it was the first funeral I've ever been to for somebody younger than me. I would guess that is unusual at my age....I have been lucky.

Summer school sign up was this week. Art, scrap booking, games, cooking, golf...I want to be a kid again!

Musical Tastes

Today I was doing some work at the computer, and had Itunes playing random songs.  I usually just have it going for background music and don't really pay that much attention to it.

The song "Walking On The Moon" by The Police came on....and for some reason, I decided to skip it.  The next song was "We're Going To Mars" by the Backyardigans....and I left that one on.

So I skipped a song from the Greatest Hits album from one of America's classic rock bands for a song sung by a penguin, a kangaroo, and a "Uniqua."

That about sums up the state of fatherhood for me.

Math Homework and Free Fish

I was helping Allison with her math homework again tonight....and as I posted here last year, that's not always a good idea as I tend to give her the answers instead of making her work for them.  But I have actually gotten better at that...I think.

Tonight, she was working on her multiplication tables and had to do 17, 18, and 19.  I was helping her by holding a white board and writing numbers for her to add.  I would write 17+17, she would say 34.  I would write 34+17, she would say 51, etc.  Towards the end I went to write 153+17=170 and she yelled at me to stop.

"I don't want a free fish," she said.  "I want to learn how to catch fish."

I thought that was so cool.  Her teacher had given them that analogy in school today, and she really got it!

My son on the other hand is still all about getting a free fish with his homework.  I have to be very careful when I help him.  Maybe he'll get it soon too.

BoJiDaMaNaJa

The friends I had when I was a kid were awesome.  I was reminded of that fact the other day and it got me thinking (as always) about my kids.  My kids are in 5th and 4th grades.  As I recall....when I was in those grades I had great friends.  Not only did we have lots of fun (playing Star Wars at recess, having sleep overs, playing basketball on the hoop on our garage, the Saturday afternoon Dungeons and Dragons games) but they were just plain good people.  Smart, funny, and well behaved (as far as I can remember).  Of course, it's hard to tell at that age, but it turns out, my friends were awesome!  

Unfortunately, I haven't seen most of my elementary school and high school friends much since way back in the day....but through the magic of the internet, I can at least sort of keep up with them.

But what about my kids and their friends?  

I know you can't choose your kids' friends for them...but I sure hope their friends turn out to be as awesome as mine.

Minecraft

About a month ago, my son started asking me if he could get a game called Minecraft for our computer.  I had no idea what it was.  He said one of his friends had it and it was "epic."  But it was just after Christmas, so I kept telling him he didn't need any new games.  But he kept asking and kept asking and kept asking, and I eventually gave in and let him get it.

Now he plays non stop.  I'm convinced if we didn't make him stop occasionally, he would give up eating and sleeping for this game.

It seems to be a very fun, imaginative and creative game.  But we're also teetering on the line between having fun and being addicted.

Baseball Story

I found this today when I was going through my "stories" folder.  It's based on an actual night at a minor league baseball game with my kids...in real life it was Spider-man night.

My daddy loves baseball.  He loves to play it with me and my brother in the backyard.  He loves to watch it on TV.  But most of all, he loves to go and watch games at the stadium.  Sometimes he goes by himself.  My mom says that is his “Daddy time.”  Sometimes he brings my brother and me with him.

I like going to the baseball stadium with Daddy.  They have yummy ice cream and cotton candy, and Daddy lets me have a soda in a big cup with a twisty straw.  

Sometimes my brother whines about not getting enough candy.  Or about not catching a foul ball.  Or about spilling his popcorn all over the people sitting in front of us.

The last time we went to a game, it was a special night.  Ultra-man was there.  He is my brother’s favorite super hero.  I don’t think it was the real Ultra-man, but I didn’t tell that to my brother.

We got there early so that my brother could get Ultra-man’s autograph before there was a big line.  We also got to have our picture taken with him.  My brother told him we had seen all of his movies, and I got to give him a hug. 

Later, after we got some snacks and found our seats, we watched Ultra-man throw out the first pitch.  My brother yelled at him to throw the ball to us, but he just threw it to the catcher.

Then the game started, and we got more snacks.  

After about two bags of popcorn and a licorice rope and a soda (with a twisty straw) we got to sing a song about buying peanuts and Cracker Jack.  That is my favorite part about baseball games.  My dad even let us get some Cracker Jack, but my brother didn’t like it, so Daddy bought us ice cream that we got to eat out of little toy baseball helmets.

After the game, all the kids got to go on the field and run around the bases.  My brother ran faster than me because my stomach was too full for me to run my fastest.

When we got home, Mommy asked me who won...I didn’t know.

It sure is fun going to baseball games with my daddy!

My Home All Day Friend

I was looking at my bedroom walls the other day.  I have several pieces of art that my kids made years ago hanging in there.  They are all from several years ago...and they are kind of in the "what the heck is that" category.  Unless, of course, you are their dad and you know exactly what they are.  In one spot hang two drawings of pizzas.  Because I love pizza and my kids wanted me always have some around.  In another spot is a picture of a baseball field that my son drew.  He doesn't particularly care about baseball....but he knows I do, so he drew a field for me.

And then there is this guy:

My daughter made him for me back when she was in kindergarten and my son was starting pre-K so that I would have a friend and I wouldn't be home alone all day.

I've always had a problem throwing out my kids' art projects anyway...but this one in particular I think will stay on that wall for a long time.  

Stay-At-Home-Dad vs. the TV

On days when the kids are both at school, and I don't work, and I'm home all day, I try really hard not to turn on the TV.
Some how turing on the TV means I have given in.  
That I'll end up on the couch under a blanket eating swiss cake rolls until 3:00.

I do make exceptions for the occasional baseball game during the summer and of course college basketball in March....but for the most part, I view TV as the enemy while I am home alone during the day.

Why is that?

It's not like playing games on Facebook is any more productive than watching TV.  Or reading two pages of a book before dozing off is really all that much better.

And the even weirder thing is that when I do give in to the dark side and turn on the television....I find myself watching Spongebob or The Backyardigans.

Maybe that's why I try to stay away from the TV when I'm home alone....I've forgotten what grown-ups watch.

Calvin and Hobbes and Baseball

My 9 year old son was reading from an old Calvin and Hobbes book tonight.  He really loves reading those.  After a while he brought it to me and told me to read a couple pages that he said "started out funny...but then get sad."  It was a series of comic strips about Calvin not being interested in sports but signing up for baseball so his friends wouldn't tease him anymore.

Needless to say, it does not go well for Calvin and leads to this panel:

This one hit a nerve with me.  A couple of summers ago, I signed Andrew up to play in a baseball league.  He really didn't enjoy it very much.  A few weeks into the season he broke his arm (in a non-baseball related incident) and was very much relieved because it meant he didn't have to play baseball anymore.  I really don't want to be "that parent" that makes his kids be into sports if they don't want to be into sports.  

I love the advice Hobbes has for him...Just please yourself.  I hope my kids are trying to please themselves and not me with the activities they choose.