Note: This post is part of Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs, where all the cool kids are hanging out. (Moms are welcome over there!) I *might* even have a column called “Teen Angst” there. Welcome to my visitors from DB; thanks for stopping in! We sent the kids off to their first day of school yesterday without a hitch as usual; it’s hard to believe that they are both in high school. Every year on the first day, I take a photo of them standing together. I’ve done this since the older one was in preschool and the younger one wasn’t even in school yet; I was going to post…
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Fly Like An Eagle
Wow. After a bunch of years that went by way too fast, alot of patience, and a tremendous amount of work (plus a little bit of nagging), tonight this guy: “magically” turned into this guy. He’s our family’s first Eagle Scout.Wow.
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Flying High
It’s done. I have to be totally honest: there were a few moments during which Jim and I doubted we’d be able to say that. But here we are. I’m talking about the Older Boy’s Boy Scout Eagle Project. It has been a little less than a year in the making; it’s been a year of pushing, pulling, nagging, complaining–some by us, some by him. It’s been a year of learning when to stop pushing and let him take the reins. It’s been the year of gentle reminders. It’s been the year of juggling and prioritizing. It’s been a year of a wee bit o’ negativity, but mostly positivity. It’s…
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Ping Pong Would Have Been Much Cheaper, But Wouldn’t Have Provided Moments Such As This One.
This year, we signed the sixteen-year-old up for two off-season Lacrosse programs: one 6-week strength conditioning session and one 6-week team league, both of which would take him up to tryout week. This year, the families in our Lacrosse Club found ourselves having to purchase new uniforms because the ones we had been using had some stripe on the sleeves whose width didn’t jive with the IHSLA rules (or something like that). This is something that totally sucked for everybody, but especially for those of us who had a new player and bought a new uniform LAST year. Eek. This year, the club registration fees went up. This year, his…
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Time Flies When You’re Having Sons.
I am finding it very hard to believe that, fourteen years ago today, I was evicting this 9-pound, 11-ounce baby from my womb. As expected, he’s much more fun out here. Happy Birthday, Rock Star!!!
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The Festival of Lights Started Early This Year, On My Face.
As a parent, you don’t always know if certain ideas, information, and traditions you are trying to instill in your kids are actually “in there” until something is unexpectedly said or done that makes you grin from ear to ear. Today in religious school (I teach second grade, and the younger boy, my 13-year-old, is my teaching aide) we were talking about Hanukkah, since it’s fast approaching. I was explaining to my students that we load the candles into the menorah from right to left. So, on the first night, there is one candle on the far right and then the helper candle–or “shamash”, or “shamus”–is, well, wherever the hole…
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Proud To Be A Chicago-American!
I feel compelled to write a few words about this historical evening. I have feelings of “Did this really happen?” and “Pinch me…really, did it happen?” I am so excited about the possibilities for our country that I am jumping out of my skin. The fact that my favorite city plays a huge part not only as the “adopted city” of Barack Obama but also the stage on which he gave the speech last night when it was all over obviously warms my heart and makes me feel even more proud. I have to say that whatever people feel about his “readiness” to be the President of the United States,…
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My Baby’s No Baby
It’s amazing how, as a parent, sometimes you (okay, ME) tend to not expect your youngest child to be able to do certain things at certain ages and stages. I think in my case, it’s not as much that I feel like the thirteen-year-old will “always be the baby” or anything like that; rather, I really think that it’s just my brain. Sometimes I get frustrated because he isn’t doing something or acting in a certain way…and then I remember that–DUH–maybe it’s just beyond his level and I should cut him a break. He’s growing up, though. Sometimes I get an amazing glimpse at Maturation in Action; I got one…
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A Green Letter Day
Last night’s Lacrosse Banquet was lovely. It was held at a hoity-toity country club, and the golf course view from the room was phenomenal. Jim requested that we sit near the door because he has been really sick over the past week (having coughing fits so bad he changes colors!) and wanted an easy escape if he started to hack away. The fifteen-year-old, of course, didn’t want to sit with us (the players all sat together for the most part). So we grabbed spots at the table near the door, and sat alone until the late people came in: because nobody normally chooses the table that is furthest from the…
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Just In Case I Couldn’t Figure Out Whose Kid Gave Me The Cards…
Time for some Mother’s Day card-posting! First, the card that Roxie “picked out”. Here’s the front: Inside on the right: In case you are having trouble with Jim’s handwriting, it says, “Woof! I asked Dad to get me a card to give you for Mother’s Day and he told me there is a huge opportunity for card writers for pets, cause this was the best card he could find. Roxie” Inside on the left: “Thanks for taking me on walks and spoiling me with treats and getting my butt squeezed and all the other wonderful things you do for me. I’ll lick your face as soon as I finish licking…