I will be at Parker Dam State Park…..

   for a long weekend for camping. I will taking a brief respite from posting for several days.

Observations of a 4 year old birthday party

    My daughter celebrated her 4 years on the planet. During all the festivities, I made note of several little events I felt compelled to comment on here.

    I think one of the most annoying things I have experienced, even before becoming a parent, is watching other parents leave their children to fend for themselves at public functions. As soon as they arrive, the parent and child go their separate ways. I am not sure if this is a misinterpretation of “it takes a village” or what. Having been a camp counselor, I instantly feel I have to keep a watchful eye on the child. I find it hardly coincidental that the parent capable of this is oftentimes paired with what we in the childcare field referred to as “demon spawn.”  While most children have a natural appeal, these beings evoke no calming emotion. Luckily, the party only lasted 2 hours. I did quietly smile to myself watching these kids putting away soda in college beer bong proportions.  It’s almost like karma in disaccharide form.

     Other than that, I reaffirm my hatred of Bratz toys. The good news is that the toy gods were smiling upon us because there was only one this time. I find it really hard to celebrate inner-city attitude venerated as if it were culture. Bling is merely the substitution for the phrase “fascinated by shiny objects.” Even the frickin’ name emphasizes illiteracy…..

Hey, Dad’s cool again!!!

  All it took was remembering all the Star Wars movies.

       Playstation 2 has a game called Star Wars. It consists of the characters and story line of the original films, except they are all Lego-shaped. The game is kind of cool, actually. I don’t really play it, but my kids like to.

       Anyway, the cast of characters is pretty long. I constantly get asked who’s name is what & which movie were they in. Seeing as I was there the first time, and have seen all the movies with them. I can be the fount of knowledge, even if the only thing flowing out of it is the ability to tell Power Droid from a Bespin Guard.

    Woot Woot!

I remember Sept. 11th

   I was at work when it happened. We had a television in the conference room which was on the whole day.  Everyone was staring in disbelief at what happened. I think the collect mind of most Americans was that we are vulnerable. I think it also made us realize that the hate some feel towards us is very real. For awhile, we found faith. We shared patriotism. Differences among us weren’t a big deal. Suddenly, we were all Americans again. 

      I arrived home after work, gave my family a hug and we shut the television off. Informational turned into overload. Watching the planes crash into the buildings over and over again was too much. Trying to hold the moment together, I crawled onto the floor with my 2 year old son to play with him. He wanted to play with blocks. It seemed like a simple task. Large cardboard blocks. Right? Unfortunately, like many two year olds, he decided to knock over the tower we just built. The symbolism was too much. I talked him into cuddling on the couch and read him a book.

    Something was lost that day. I am not sure if we will get it back. It does warm my heart that some people have tried to get it back. By reaching out to others, making it a day of rememberance and charity, is a good start.

We remember.

A long weekend in Cleveland, Ohio kept me from my blogging duties

Subsequently, I’ve not posted anything recently.

 The good news is that I still won’t be posting any pictures of my pets in typical blog mundanecity.

Today’s Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

Yep. 10 years.

We will be going to NYC on Saturday for the day.

I’m psyched.

Learning to ride bikes

    Both my sons today learned how to ride their bikes today. This rite of passage has been something that my wife and I have been working on for a long time. It’s one of those things that we think is an important skill to know. It ranks up there with learning how to swim (which both boys know how to do, too).

     Once they become more experienced riders, their worlds will open up and they will be able to experience more freedom, along with get even more exercise, and give us more options of things to do while vacationing in Chincoteague, VA.

     Today is a big day. Go write that down.

5 things you should AVOID while camping

  Having recently just gotten back from a long weekend camping at Locust Lake with my family, I feel compelled to share my opinion of such “whippersnapper” behavior – if only in a curmudgeon-in-training sort of way.

1) Treating Department Of Resources Employees like maids. They have enough to do managing the National Park system rather than pick up your messes. If you break some glass, that’s fine – just pick it up.

2) Using lanterns that have a SOLAR FLARE setting, especially at night. People who enjoy camping are typically there to enjoy nature. We like sitting in the dark, looking at the stars over a campfire. We didn’t put the time and effort into all of this – just to have our retinas baked out of our skulls by some dorks with universe-ending blast of light from the neighbors’ campsite. Sharing is good, but not with this.

3) Walking through other peoples’ campsites. Camping is a friendly, social affair but boundaries are good to. Be considerate of your neighbors. If you feel compelled to overstep the line here, please remember these three words: Malaysian Tiger Trap.

4)  Burning things other than wood in your campfire. Let me save you some book learnin’ here. Throwing non-flammable man-made things into a fire will either give off harmful chemicals, taint the food you may later cook on that fire, or harm the animal life still living in that forest after you go. Leaving food will invite critters. Small critters may not be harmful, but large critters are. If you want to be lower on the food chain, go somewhere else please. Volunteer as lion bait at the closest zoo or something. Here’s another science tip. Don’t play with lighter fluid around open flames. You’re not going to impress anyone having Charles Darwin on speed dial. Even fewer will be impressed when you torch the park after uttering the phrase, “Hey guys, check this out!”

5) Leave the perfume/heavy scents at home.  If you’re that high maintenance that you can’t walk away from hair care or personal care products for a few days, camping may not be for you. The discerning camping nose avoids such aromas because it becomes a magnet for bugs and mosquitos. Save the swanky aromas for your next bar-hopping jaunt.

(mostly) Monosyllabic (inspired by icedmocha.wordpress.com)

1. Where is your cell phone?
GONE

2. Relationship?
Hot

3. Your hair?
Grey

4. Work?
yawn

5. Your sister?
huh?

6. Your favorite thing?
books

7. Your dream last night?
weird

8. Your favorite drink?
coffee (sorry, it’s not monosyllabic)

9. Your dream car?
Blue

10. The room you’re in?
quiet

11. Your shoes?
off

12. Your fears?
Government (sorry, it’s not monosyllabic)

13. What do you want to be in 10 years?
rich

14. Who did you hang out with this weekend?
FAMILY (sorry, it’s not monosyllabic)

15. What you’re not good at?
fibs

16. Muffin?
berry

17. One of your wish list items?
TRAVEL

18. Where you grew up?
COLLEGE

19. The last thing you did?
eat

20. What are you wearing?
shorts

21. What aren’t you wearing?
shoes

22. Your pet?
annoying (sorry, it’s not monosyllabic)

23. Your computer?
on

24. Your life?
fine

25. Your mood?
wired

26. Missing?
Hoffa (sorry, not only is it not monosyllabic – it’s funny)

27. What are you thinking about right now?
chicks

28. Your car?
runs

29. Your kitchen?
mess

30. Your summer?
cool

31. Your favorite color?
BLUE

32. When is the last time you laughed?
now

33. Last time you cried?
unsure (sorry, it’s not monosyllabic)

34. School?
more?

35. Love?
Wife

5 life experiences that ultimately helped me understand parenting

1)  Having college roommates who didn’t pick up after themselves. Clothing left all over the floors. Dirty dishes left in the sink. Toilet occasionally flushed. Looking back, it’s all strangely prophetic. The neat thing is that my kids are way cooler than that roommate back then.

2) Being a summer camp counselor. Leading a group of kids around. Making sure everyone was accounted for at all times, dressed appropriately for the weather, fed on time and got to bed at a reasonable hour. I also had practice trying to stay on schedule. My personal time would be the few waking moments left before I fell asleep on my mattress at bedtime.

3) The week of finals at college each year. Staying up really late and making like what seemed to be important decisions between midnight and 6 a.m. Oh, eating at weird hours, too.

4) Studying a foreign language.  By learning how other languages are structured, you have a better chance of getting the context of what was said….except with the added dimensions of with mouthfuls of food or between massive sobs after skinned knees.

5) Raising puppies. Clothing and furniture gets destroyed, toys get left out and restroom boundaries are somewhat tenuous for a while. They also sit their confused while you try to explain things to them. I guess the good news is that they don’t roll their eyes.  Anyway, while I have developed a lot of patience with my children, the only dogs I ever really liked are served at baseball games with chopped onions and ketchup.