My son Drew (age 11) is away at Boy Scout camp for the week. First time he's been away from home on his own for more than one night. So far so good, and I'm thinking he'll do fine. Not so sure about the wife...and the cat is definitely pissed off.

And our first ER trip for our kid has now occured. Fell off the porch outside daycare straight into some bushes, got a little gash on his temple and a bunch of little scratches all over his face.

WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE FACE.

Little bit of superglue later, I have a daycare operator to ream. This is not the first injury he's had there, and I'm growing very weary of it. I understand he's 2.5, he's energetic, and gets into stuff. But it's gotten ridiculous.

I hear you... We had just sent 2-3 hours at the pool into the early evening with our two old. Got him his bottle of milk, left him upright and he tripped over something. A nice split skin issue at the place where the chin/lip indent is.. and a cut inside his mouth. That was very scary since he had blood in his mouth and over his teeth..

yikes,

Really not looking forward to trying to find a new daycare. More I stew, the less I want him going back there. Sucks, 'cause the place was ultra convenient, and she's really good at teaching him - she just doesn't watch him as well as she should.

I'm dancing in the streets. Ashley is finally potty trained.

Ah yes, I remember it well.

He was maybe, I dunno, 3ish. Was on the couch in the den being silly with the daughter of a friend, maybe 5 or 6 y/o. Somehow my child manages to topple off the couch ... right into the corner of a round coffee table. You wouldn't think that's exactly possible but it was. The rounded edge caught him perfectly in/on his eyebrow & he bled like a heavyweight.

Straight to the E.R. where we had our first encounter with the new procedures designed (presumably) to spot abuse. The doctor asks our son how he got hurt - while sternly motioning us with his arm to not answer - and my 3 year old, through the tears says

"I was clowning."

My wife is out of town for 10 days with our little one, so it is just our three year old and me. I'm not sure what to do with myself. I put him to bed and have my evening free. I had forgotten how easy he is compared to the baby.

Not sure how many of you know but our son is on the autism spectrum. When he was 3 years old he still didn't communicate and the daycare provider took advantage and would leave him with a soaked, heavy diaper. I was so pissed I went back with the wet, soiled diaper and went off on them. My God, I was fuming. I said my last words, pulled the diaper out of the baggie and showed it to them. I'm not what you say a diplomatic person. I put the diaper on their desk and said, "Look at it. Look at how heavy this thing is and he was soaking in it, wtf?" My son and I got up and left the diaper on their desk.

This daycare was right up the street. Super convenient. Anyway, moral of the story is - Convenience isn't always the best route to go, we learned this the hard way with 3 awful babysitters. It's worth it to take the time and find someone good. I'm not saying drive 20 miles to drop your son off, but find someone good and make sure you take him with you... go off his reaction. Does he seem interested? Does he cling on to you? go off their vibes, kids are very very smart.

Best of luck, I know it's a pain in the ass but if he's had more than 1 injury, that's 1 too many.

Son's school has resumed the search for a new headmaster (last year's search to replace the beloved long-time HM that retired did not produce a successful candidate).

With only two years left to go, it's a bit unnerving to me. 1st of four finalists has been announced (one per week through October) with visits & interviews coming up. The first candidate would either be a lousy fit or an agent of change (dramatically different background to our current environment), something that the initial job posting VERY clearly stated was not what was wanted.

I f'n hate transitions like this.

Roles (positions? I dunno the right word) announced for this year's Athens Academy mock trial team.

I dropped off a sophomore at 2pm.
I picked up a defense attorney at 3pm.

Those who know him best may note the irony in his role, considering that his sociopolitical alignment probably makes him a candidate for "Most Likely To Become A Hanging Judge" ;)

Just finished reading Will's homework essay (something I don't do a lot of, 'cause I tend to nitpick). The task was to find an op-ed piece they disagreed with on some issue and then rebut it. I won't quote him nor go into the content much since it's still in an early draft state but ... let's just say that I'm probably not the most conservative member of our household at this point ;) And politicians (or parties) who sell out their constituents may not want to count on his vote in a few years either. #Proud

This morning, after nearly four months of preparation, we dropped off a rookie defense attorney.

This afternoon we came home with a defense attorney named Outstanding Attorney of his very first competitive round. He actually got higher scores (3 judge panel) in Round 2 but an opposing (faux) lawyer had an even higher mark.


Most importantly, team finished 3rd overall to survive & advance into the District round three weeks from today. They'll open against the #2 seed from another region head-to-head in knockout play (6 team bracket) with one team eventually advancing to the state competition in March.

Teacher: You know, Will, you're a good looking kid.

Son (3): Yes, I've been eating a lot of carrots.

(It may take a few minutes, but you'll get there.)

(And good luck to Athens next week.)

Question for the parents of FOFC.

My wife has been leaning pretty hard on me about a third kid. While I am not opposed to it I have some pretty big concerns.

We currently have an almost 4 year old boy and a 10 month old girl so obviously our hands are full most days. We have no family within 600 miles so there is almost no outside assistance with the exception of a few very close friends who are like aunts and uncles to my kids. Adding a third would make us that much busier without any help.

Financially it isn't a problem, we combined make a very good living, and would likely get a nanny if we added #3, and if not our oldest is going to school soon.

My biggest concern is we are both 38, and I worry about the health of a new baby. Now I know we have parents with special needs kids here, and I want to be sensitive to their situation, but at the risk of sounding selfish, I don't want to decide to have a 3rd kid and have it be born with a lifelong disability. I feel we have 2 perfectly healthy kids and it would almost be tempting fate. My wife also lost 2 pregnancies between our first and second, so there could be some issues with it taking. I'm not sure I want to be 60 with kids living at home and having to pay for 3 college educations and at least one wedding.

My other concerns aren't as serious. My concern if the dynamic of 3 kids opposed to 2. With a family of 4 everything is a neat package, adding a 3rd seems like it would change the logistics of a lot of things. We would have to replace at least one car, etc...

There is also the overwhelming feeling of starting it all over again, the sleepless nights, diapers, etc...but I always tell myself we have been through that twice, a third time wouldnt be a big deal.

The positives are obvious. Kids are awesome, and no matter how tiring and patience testing they can be, they are the best thing in my life, so why not want another?

Right now I am really on the fence, with the added feeling of not wanting to disappoint my wife, while not having another kid just to make her happy.

So parents of FOFC, thoughts?

I was 39 and my wife was 40 when my second daughter was born. We asked her doctor about the risks before we made a decision. My recollection is that although it is several times more likely that there could be complications or problems developing with the fetus, it is still a fraction of a percent. I'd recommend having the same conversation with your doctor so you are making that portion of the decision based on the best available science.

I can't help you on the 2 kids v 3 kids; we stopped at 2. We didn't want to be outnumbered by the rabble.

I guess it's as much a matter of personal preference, for me the notion of three sounds like a nightmare that would be the death of me ... but my favorite milestones of the last couple of decades include the last diaper change, the last car seat day, the last use of a stroller, etc, so there's clearly a lot of YMMV there.

I will tell you, fwiw, that my wife was 39 at the time and it was definitely a concern throughout what was (really) a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy. On the other hand, we learned years later that he was born with a minor "birth defect" (doctors & therapists word choice, not mine, so take it up with them if you don't care for it) in terms of his muscle memory, something that's hampered him with everything from athletics to handwriting. No official cause of course but it's hard not to think that our ages may have played a role in that, something that it's hard not to feel some responsibility for.

From a more practical standpoint, being on the older end of the parenting spectrum means that we seem to have a fair bit less energy than some of the more traditionally aged ones, especially as he's gotten older & the sheer time demands of being in four places a day as you run from activity to activity ramp up. I know other people do it (as you would be) with an even larger brood of course, I'm just saying that it seems to weigh a little more heavily on those of us with extra years/mileage.

We went into it with the plan that we'd try one, and if that went OK, we'd do two, but we'd be stopping at two no matter what. So now that we have two, three's never really been on our radar, and now that the younger one is 2.5 I'll echo what you said, Lathum, about "starting all over again". They say you forget how tough those first few months (especially) were, but I haven't. :D

On the medical front, we were both 38 when we had the second one. We did all the tests possible, including CVS, to make sure there weren't going to be any issues. I guess that's the best one can do.

I'm kinda glad we had kids "later", though. I'm glad I had my 20s and half of my 30s to do the "stuff I wanted to do". Yes, as Jon says, I have less energy for it now than I would have had in my 20s, but on the other hand, I have more money, and I've found that when it comes to kids, money can smooth over a lot of difficulties (day care, baby sitters, medication, toys, etc...). But, and here's the important part, everyone's different, and no more so than in how they handle having children.

One of the major parenting milestones passed today ... as Will became the state's newest legally licensed 16 year old driver. Good thing I'm going bald otherwise I'd end up really gray really quick I imagine.





The backstory on the car is actually pretty nice so I'm going to tell it. Unbeknownst to us until a few months ago, my late father-in-law had told his wife several years before he passed away that "I may not be here by the time Will turns 16 so when the time comes, you make sure you get him a car he really wants, from both of us" ... and that's exactly what she did.

Sweet car, but why is he rocking the Deacs hat? Secret desire to go to Wake Forest over Tech or Tennessee or something?

(Dear Lord, you think he's ready? I'm sure you've got a nice long list of "I will crush and melt this car if you do this" stipulations, right? :D )

Tech isn't even remotely on his radar, definitely not a STEM kid ;)

UT is a 2nd tier option at most for him at this point, only really somewhere he'd consider if he ended up accepted for their Honors college. (Similarly -- to my wife's chagrin -- that's about the same as he'd say about Alabama)

Wake is probably the current leader with him, although he goes to a session in Atlanta tomorrow for his other very strong personal favorite (school-wise & geographically): Miami.


Oh believe me, I'm like Santa Claus on that shit already ... I'm making a list & checking it twice :D

Have mercy the boy nearly got my ass killed, for real, earlier tonight. Left turned directly into the path of a van that was doing about 40 mph or so. Luckily the van driver was paying attention & had great reflexes.

Nothing more than a near miss ... but we've now had a lengthy conversation about the sudden discovery that he's nowhere near ready to drive on narrow city streets. Interstates? No problem. Left turns w/out an arrow? Major problem.

I'm really glad I went to the bathroom before we left the house.

Glad you made it home w/o becoming a hood ornament. I did something similar just after I got my license. Fortunately, the oncoming truck was going uphill, so he was able to stop in time. But I learned then that kids should never drive with just friends in the car.

Eight years out of practice, but now all the memories are flooding back of what it's like to have a newborn again. Fortunately, she's got a pretty relaxed temperament so far and has done pretty well to find her hand in situations where mom isn't around to feed her. She has only had one really out-of-control crying jag so far and that was because she'd been in a car seat too long but we couldn't take her out yet, and even then she eventually cried herself to sleep, which was something unheard of with the other two when they were newborns.

So far, I'm finding I actually have been enjoying relearning what it's like to have such a little baby around. My wife begs to differ on some points, but it's not to do with the baby, but more how her body's handled late pregnancy and these early days afterwards, which would delve way into TMI territory to talk about. I'm sure my tune may change if the baby starts getting more cranky as she gets older, but for now, I'm totally in love with the little one. :D

*twitches uncontrollably*
*mutters*
*jitters*

For the second straight night, my daughter gave up her bed-time pacifier on her own. And for the longest time we had been worrying about how to wean her from it without too much fuss. Then with the slightest bit of urging, she just put it down and said "I'm a big girl now."

My youngest kid graduated high school. I'm officially going to be an empty nester in a couple of months. She gave the opening speech at graduation, which was certainly a cool "proud papa" moment.

Well this is my first post in this thread. I was a single FOFC guy for about ten years and then have been lurking in this thread since I had my son 18 months ago. So my wife and I decided we wanted to have another little one to complete the panerd clan. Well life doesn't always work out as planned and we have twins on the way!

Not sure how to explain how I am feeling right now. Excited, bewildered, scared...

* Any parents of twins or of three kids within 2-3 years on here? My biggest concern is my wife's sanity when I go back to work and the lack of attention for our 2 year old once the twins are born.

* Any minivan owners on here? We love the stow and go of Dodge/Chrysler and are trying to figure out what positives other car companies offer.

My oldest suffered a slightly gruesome freak injury Thursday night. She somehow fell while playing around in the back yard and wound up with a pinkie that quite obvious was not pointing in the same direction as the other fingers on her left hand and endured a rather lengthy ER visit to treat it. I had hoped it was just dislocated based on how it looked, but the X-rays showed it was also broken just above the knuckle I think. So, she's been in a rather big splint the whole time since and has been saddened that she can't do much because of it. We'll be seeing the ortho on Monday to get the long term cast/splint for it. Hope they give her something that will let her be a bit more active (including playing in the pool) while it heals or she's really going to be crabby about it.

There's not much more horrifying than seeing a staple sticking out of your child's skull.

Long story short, attack of the coffee table, got a tiny little gash on the back of his head. We of course take him to the ER to get looked at, it's nothing serious, but he got 1 stable. You can't even see it unless you know where to look. And it's still awful to look at.

I got a 6y/o, 4y/o and 16 month old. Just embrace the chaos. Make it a point to pay particular attention to the 2 year old (in our case, the middle child). Don't let the little things bother you. Help out when you get home from work. You won't always feel like it, but it helps to pack all three up and just get out of the house for a few hours. I'll take them to the mall and let them ride the merry-go-round, or play in the playscape for a bit. Or I'll take them to the grandparents. Or Toys R Us and leet them pick something out of the $1-$5 bins. Even as simple as taking them outside in your yard. Just give the wife some time to herself here and there will help.

I dreaded getting a minivan, but I bought a Honda Odyssey and I adore it. I'd buy one without kids! We never use the stow and go. The rest of the vehicle has so much space. And it is great for hauling things that you buy that normally you would have to have delivered or borrow a pick up truck.

We are at the point now, where the "bigs" can entertain the 15 month old for a bit. Just let them all play together and the wife and I do not constantly have our eyes on them.

No offense to single child parents (I'm an only child) but you have it easy until you have 2 or more! The 2nd one, in your case 2nd and 3rd, does not double the work. It is like a 10x multiplier. In our case, the 3rd one was easy and added no work.

My 14 year daughter is away with a friend and her parents for a week. This is the 1st time for her. She was nervous about going. She has done weekends away, but not an entire week.
So far so good. Im happy she went, although a little nervous myself. But I trust the parents (obviously).
We took our 12 year old to a basketball camp in another state a couple weeks ago. It was 3 days long with a residence option. It is where I grew up, so we went the commuter route and stayed with my brother. It was an experiment to get her out of her comfort zone. The camp lasted about 9-11 hours a day. They fed them lunch and dinner. So she had to find people to hang with or not. She is somewhat outgoing, but gets into her comfort zone a little easily.
It worked on a grand scale I think.

So this has been a Summer of independence and growth for my daughters.

Man, they are growing up way to quick.

Got the "oh shit" phone call from the 16 y/o a few days ago

"{gasp} I hit a car {sob}"

He's fine, literally barely scuffed the paint on his front fender but put a perfectly placed dent in the back bumper of a brand new Rav4. Was on private property (where he's taking his SAT/ACT prep course), the victim was a student from his own school -- who couldn't have been nicer about the whole thing -- cops did their report thing but no charges thanks to the private property location.

Cost to us (since we don't have to get insurance involved) ... about $600.

edit to add: He misjudged the angle while trying to pull into a tight parking space. So, for the record, he's now hit a post/beam in the garage AND a parked car ...

Me: "They're stationary objects son, they're kinda hard to miss"
Him: "yeah, I know, that's why I can't seem to miss them"

Smartass kid ;)

Grats!

My wife wants a third pretty badly and I am digging my heels in for fear of ending up with twins.

No advice on twinse per say, but when my daughter was born my son had just turned 3. What we did was make him a helper and think he was doing importan jobs, that got him involved.

Also, one thing we did that I think was huge, when he came to the hospital for the first time after the baby was born we made sure my wife and I weren't holding the new baby. I think it was important to reinforce that we were still mommy and daddy and the new baby hadn't taken his place. We also got a gift for him to bring to the hospital for her. I think those 2 things really started it out the right way. He now loves his sister and has almost no jealous or attention seeking moments.

Now that she is getting close to old enough to play with his stuff we'll see if it lasts.

Yes I completely agree with your "embrace the chaos" viewpoint I also figure if one of them starts really annoying me I can always move to the other two. :)

We ended up buying a minivan and I have to say it is fantastic. We have already made a semi-road trip (3 hour) and have a mini vacation coming up in a couple of weeks. Plus like you said I have used it for several Home Depot runs that would have required borrowing a friend's truck or my parents van in the past. If I could go back in time 16 year old panerd would have been driving one of these.

Thanks. Ours is too young to have any idea why mommy has a big belly and is tired all the time but by the time they are born he should be more cognizant. I am hoping that actually makes it easier. He broke his leg a few months ago and my wife and I have worried about all sorts of stuff but he just walked around with the cast on like nothing happened. :)

I had one of those cliched father moments tonight. We've recently gotten the middle daughter to transition to her own room to sleep at night, but it's hard for her to do it on her own, so I usually spend my time fiddling on my phone while sitting in her dark room waiting for her to go to sleep. I usually wait for her to snore a bit before thinking she's asleep and try to leave. This usually is ok, but sometimes she'll snap to when I exit the room and call me back in, claiming she wasn't asleep, so back in I go and wait for the next chance.

Well, tonight, I was sitting there on the floor as usual and I start to hear her snooze. I'd been finishing off a drink from a sandwich shop we got dinner at while waiting for her to sleep, so it was down to some ice chips and a little water. For whatever reason, the ice in the cup rattled extraordinarily loudly as I got up and moved to exit the room. Somehow the child sleeps through it. So far, so good. I pull the door shut and just barely let go of the handle standing in the hall... "Dad?" "Shit!" I grunted very loudly through clenched teeth. Something about the fact that I just swore very sharply that I'm sure everyone who was awake in the house at the time knew I said it made me start cracking up, like it was some stereotypical moment where a dad accidentally introduces his child to curse words for the first time or something. I go back into the room and at this point, I'm laughing my head off and my daughter doesn't understand why (thankfully I think she was too groggy to really understand what I had said). My wife messaged me and said "really? lol" which only made me laugh more. I do finally get settled down again and she does eventually go to sleep, but my abs got a workout from the whole thing. :D

So help me I think handling scheduling issues is easier for college than it is for high school. As relieved as my child will be to put K-12 behind him and move on I think our relief won't be much different.

Over it. We're just all so incredibly over it.

Colins teacher told my wife something yesterday when she picked him up from his Pre-K he started a few weeks ago. The boy whose cubby is next to Colins is in a wheelchair. She told my wife that the boys have struck up quite a friendship, and Colin always plays with this other boy and doesn't treat him any differently. They play blocks and games together and have a great time doing it. I am so proud of Colin for looking at this kid like any other boy and not treating him any differently. As parents I think we all want our children to become better people then we are, and Colin is well on his way

It'd be nice if my family could be healthy.

In the past month:

Wife caught nasty plague.
Son had ear infection.
Daughter had stomach bug.
I caught nasty plague.
Daughter now has a double ear infection & inflamed tonsils.

Since my last several posts in this thread have been less-than-fun stuff, I'll do a brag post tonight instead.

Props to my 16 y/o on being selected for the Watson-Brown Foundation Athens Chapter Junior Board. The honor involves a select group of local HS students in the grant process from RFP to application reviews to site visits, with them ultimately selecting recipient(s) of grants designed to preserve local history. It's a unique and highly useful experience that I'm happy he'll have.

I think the last 2-3 years worth of honorees from his school has included valedictorians & class presidents/officers, so for him to be selected ain't half bad company to be keeping.

It's also a great fit for him I think, something right up his alley.

I haven't posted in here for a while...It's a Brag...

My daughter has been applying to colleges and working her tail off. Right now she is at 3.84 GPA and an 1170 on her SATs

She has applied to the following schools:

Georgetown
George Washington
Notre Dame
George Mason
James Madison
Niagara University
Hofstra
Roanoke
University of Utah
SUNY - Geneseo

Her #1 she wants to attend is George Mason, but the acceptance letters are coming in.

Right now she has been accepted to Niagara U with a 15K Scholarship and she just received an acceptance letter to Roanoke for 17K with it converting to full ride if she performs well with academics. Right now, her hard work is paying off and she is flabbergasted, she didn't think she would get this much in scholarships.

Right now I think she will go 10/10 on acceptance, it's just now figuring out who will pay the most :)

My youngest daughter, all of seven months, is deciding she wants to keep up with her much, much older sisters (11 and 8). In the past few days, she's figured out crawling, cruising, and climbing a step. :eek:

Just confirmed today that we are headed to China on 12/10 to adopt our daughter. We'll be in China from 12/11 to 12/24, arriving home around midnight on Christmas Eve.

Going to be a very special Christmas this year :)

That is awesome!

Hoopsguy did something similar several years back, can't remember if it was China or not. I'm sure he would be happy to give any advice, as would I being someone who was adopted.

Looks like today is the day, hope all goes well!

Has this happened yet?

Should be getting close.

You realize you totally deserve this, right? :p

Him (6 years old): Daddy, do you have to get married?
Me: No, not if you don't want to.
Him: But if the woman you're with wants to get married, then you have to, right?
Me: Yes. Good point.

Yes, last weekend. Thanks for asking. Two healthy (and big) baby boys. Wife actually avoided a C-section somehow which is fantastic for being able to deal with 3 boys under the age of 3. :-) Our oldest is doing a great job as big brother and loves them! Here is a family picture we just took for our Christmas card...

Congrats!

Great picture and great looking family ya got there!

Nice! GREAT picture. :D

So the 16 y/o got a writeup in one of the local papers this week



An abridged version of the article (rest behind a paywall) is here

"Be it known that William Loveless has this day been found worthy of the rank of Eagle Scout"

What a long, strange trip it's been. Proud of the kid, a true lesson in perseverance.

Congrats. Proud moment.

I will add mine. I forgot about this thread. But I will add my moment, even though it happened last Fall.

My Freshman daughter is on the Varsity Cross Country team. She placed 7th in conference. Kind of disappointing. Had a bad day. wasnt expecting her to win. But was thinking 3rd. But it was okay. The team won conference and she was all-conference.

Districts was a week later. Here is is where it gets crazy. A couple nights before districts, I had a dream about her running in districts. I told her about the dream the next morning. Now, you may think I had her winning districts. But thats not how the dream went. I dreamed she had to fight to get 13th place. Strange number to finish at. And the fact that she had to race at the end to get it.
The top 15 go to state. So why 13th? Strange.

Districts were upon us. Its a good course to watch the race. Lots of spots that arent to far apart to see them. When I saw her the first time, at about the one mile marker, she was 17th. I encouraged to get going.
Im not one to chase around the track, so I went up to the finish area and waited. Here they come. I start counting. 1,2,3........10, 11,12. Here comes my daught with 2 other girls with her. Its a race at the end. And what place? She took 13th. Got all district. But 13th, just like I dreamed about.

She got to go to state. And finished 104th.

I am really at a loss. But I have started paying more attention to my dreams.

Thanks, from 1st grade to 11th grade, it's a long journey to look back on.

I wish I could take any credit at all but this has been entirely him & my wife. It's an endurance test as much as anything I think, she spent a lot of time (bordering on absurd) making sure his waterfowl remained linear, especially down the stretch.

Interesting thing though, he's a bit numb after it becoming official but he commented how it felt like ... less. Less of an accomplishment, I guess you'd say, because he knows so many Eagles.

I pointed out the rapid 50-60 Likes my Facebook parental brag got as a way of trying to restore some sense of perspective. It IS a pretty big deal, but between the shock and the relief and the commonality of it in his experiences I'm not sure he fully appreciates that yet.

Hey, I'm obviously not even close to this point yet, but the subject came up a couple weeks ago, and I was curious, for those of you with older kids.

When did you guys start leaving them home by themselves for short periods of time (dinners, etc)?

We started breaking them early. Maybe when my oldest was 10, we would leave them for 10 minutes when we went to the gas station. I would say when she was 12 we started leaving them longer. But we trusted her and felt she was mature enough to to handle it. That's the big thing. Are they mature enough.

I forgot how much fun having a two year old is.

yes, thats sarcasm.

Ours hit two on Tuesday...

already?

Thats crazy

This sounds about right with us as well.

It does look like IL has a law of age 14 though, which is crazy

Really? I looked around not long ago, and I didn't see a specified age.

Three was the bad year with Bren...Rae has her moments right now, but we're not looking forward to 2016.

So my youngest son has finally found something that he really enjoys. He's the same one that I went to Raw with in the spring. He's gotten very into wrestling and started experimenting with stop motion photography over the summer. After watching some other videos on You Tube (who knew) he's decided to start his own channel. Here's his newest video. Keep in mind doesn't turn 12 until next month. I certainly couldn't do it. I don't have the patience to do it, but he is very excited.

If you like it, subscribe to his channel, like his vid, and give him some words of encouragement.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXs...MxtveBcjEmudrA

Good stuff. Which app is he using? If he really gets into it getting a good app makes a HUGE difference in helping the quality be as good as what you're willing to invest the time in making it.

Its called Kamadori Stop Motion. I don't know anything else about it, he found it all on his own.

Awesome. Very creative. Good for him.

First day of Kindergarten for my baby boy! :cry:

For all the parents and also teachers of school age kids.My girlfriend posted this from a website and it is pretty good.:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS AND PARENTS

This is an article that needs to be repeated:
Every Friday afternoon Chase’s teacher asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children with whom they’d like to sit the following week. The children know that these requests may or may not be honored. She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week. All ballots are privately submitted to her.

And every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase’s teacher takes out those slips of paper, places them in front of her and studies them. She looks for patterns.

Who is not getting requested by anyone else?
Who doesn’t even know who to request?
Who never gets noticed enough to be nominated?
Who had a million friends last week and none this week?

You see, Chase’s teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or “exceptional citizens.” Chase’s teacher is looking for lonely children. She’s looking for children who are struggling to connect with other children. She’s identifying the little ones who are falling through the cracks of the class’s social life. She is discovering whose gifts are going unnoticed by their peers. And she’s pinning down- right away- who’s being bullied and who is doing the bullying.

As a teacher, parent, and lover of all children – I think that this is the most brilliant Love Ninja strategy I have ever encountered. It’s like taking an X-ray of a classroom to see beneath the surface of things and into the hearts of students. It is like mining for gold – the gold being those little ones who need a little help – who need adults to step in and TEACH them how to make friends, how to ask others to play, how to join a group, or how to share their gifts with others. And it’s a bully deterrent because every teacher knows that bullying usually happens outside of her eyeshot – and that often kids being bullied are too intimidated to share. But as she said – the truth comes out on those safe, private, little sheets of paper.

As Chase’s teacher explained this simple, ingenious idea – I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. “How long have you been using this system?” I said.
Ever since Columbine, she said. Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine.

Good Lord.

This brilliant woman watched Columbine knowing that ALL VIOLENCE BEGINS WITH DISCONNECTION. All outward violence begins as inner loneliness. She watched that tragedy KNOWING that children who aren’t being noticed will eventually resort to being noticed by any means necessary.

And so she decided to start fighting violence early and often, and with the world within her reach. What Chase’s teacher is doing when she sits in her empty classroom studying those lists written with shaky 11 year old hands - is SAVING LIVES. I am convinced of it. She is saving lives.

And what this mathematician has learned while using this system is something she really already knew: that everything – even love, even belonging – has a pattern to it. And she finds those patterns through those lists – she breaks the codes of disconnection. And then she gets lonely kids the help they need. It’s math to her. It’s MATH.

All is love- even math. Amazing.

Chase’s teacher retires this year – after decades of saving lives. What a way to spend a life: looking for patterns of love and loneliness. Stepping in, every single day- and altering the trajectory of our world.

TEACH ON, WARRIORS. You are the first responders, the front line, the disconnection detectives, and the best and ONLY hope we’ve got for a better world. What you do in those classrooms when no one is watching- it’s our best hope. http://momastery.com/blog/2014/01/30/share-schools/

I am not yet authorized to mention details publicly (and Lord knows there are still details details details to attend to) but ...

I've been a parent for just shy of 18 years now, I don't think I've ever had a more joyous moment than the one a little while ago. There is really NOTHING that compares to seeing (or hearing) your child get what their heart most desires, and what they've worked insanely hard to achieve.

If you've been paying attention you might know what sort of email could have brought this very grumpy old man to some very happy tears.

A more formal detailed announcement will be forthcoming (as soon as I'm given permission)

I have now finagled permission to share :)

I've been a parent for just shy of 18 years now, not sure I've had a better single moment in time than tonight. I'll go to my grave remembering the sound of Will's reaction from two floors away to an email that read in part "We are pleased to offer you admission to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi"

It is not a done deal, his final decision doesn't have to be made for a bit yet but of all the various acceptances that have been rolling in over the past few weeks, that was the one he wanted most. Naturally, it was among the last to be received ('cause that's how life works).

There's really not anything that I've enjoyed more than seeing my child get not only what his heart desired but even moreso what he's worked so very hard and so very long to achieve. To know that, wherever he ends up, whatever he chooses will be a choice that he makes and that's he's earned that right ... I lack the words.

Not much better that a parent can be able to say than that they are not only proud of what their child does but of who they are.

Congrats, Jon and Will.

My wife and I are now empty nesters, so when I was asked to relocate, we decided to accept. During the packing process, my wife was going through some papers in my old desk, when she stopped and started tearing up. I asked what was going on, and she handed me a paper my oldest daughter wrote. It didn't have a date on it, but based on her writing, I'm guessing she was in fifth or sixth grade. It was called "My dad is the best dad ever!"

I don't know if that's true or not, but it was really interesting reading it. It gave a real good glimpse into what kids think make good parents. I honestly don't remember that paper, but obviously I thought enough of it to save it for ~15 years.

Fast forward a couple of days, and then I find out my youngest daughter is pregnant. So now I'm going to be a grandfather. It's funny, because I always though this would be a possibility for the other kids, but she has always been the responsible one. I'm simultaneously excited and concerned.

I now have permission to share this news, so ... Will has accepted an invitation to attend the honors college at the University of Mississippi starting next fall.

They've weaved their way from contender to frontrunner to final answer, to a question that he started asking himself seriously some seven years ago. I privately predicted Ole Miss several years ago, outside of his earshot, saying that if he ever visited that'd be his choice. While it's nice to be right, the reason I'm happy with the decision is that it's HIS decision. He's done his due diligence, he's set priorities, he's evaluated the options, he's done the work. Visits, meetings, interviews, the whole nine yards, at a variety of schools from the Mississippi River to nigh on the Atlantic Ocean.

While other schools remained in the running for quite a while, I knew things were all but settled when, over dinner in Oxford, he looked at us and said "I can't explain it but this just feels like ... home". And as far as I'm concerned, that's how it should be, I couldn't have asked him to make any other decision.

‪#‎HottyToddy‬

Awesome. Congrats. :) You going to be visiting Oxford often? It's a bit far for him to come home on weekends, I'm sure.

I was pretty sure I'd end up at State when I was younger which was about a half hour from home, but distance wasn't really a consideration for me, just wanted a solid comp sci program and State had that. Only other school I even toyed with applying for was Georgia Tech, but I was pretty sure I had the grades and the legacy needed to get into State without much trouble, so that was it.

My 14 yr old came was talking with me and admitted that he has a crush on one of his teachers. Knowing which one it is, I'd say he has good taste.

This was just a little while after he went on his first couple outings with a girl. The cat may be out of the bag on this whole girl thing for him now.

Yeah, with the distance & all I suspect we might see him once or twice during the first semester before Christmas at most. And that's in part due to grandparents on both sides insisting on seeing Oxford sometime sooner than later (tho that could happen over the summer)

One quirky advantage is that his relatively small HS (basically 100ish in each senior class) will have {counts} I think it's 5 or 6 alums there next fall. They mostly get along pretty well so they might get back here a little more often since they can split up driving duties when they come back.

He's actually driving over there tomorrow -- first time doing that solo. Pre-rush parties for fraternities are getting into gear & so he'll actually be there (instead of, you know, HERE) for his 18th birthday on Saturday.

Not that such a scenario could make a parent feel REALLY old or anything.

And, lest I sound like the world's worst parent or something ... once he arrives tomorrow night he's under the wing of one of those local alums I mentioned. He's got his back (I believe) and should keep things from getting too out of hand.

This coming Saturday I am taking my son to a football camp. That part in and of itself isnt highly unusual, he loves football and he has been to several camps. This is a specialized camp just for O-Linemen. We knew this "camp" was pretty exclusive as its ran by 2 NFL OL coaches, 1 current 1 semi-retired.

There are 40 kids who are invited from the region and you cant attend without an invite. The cool and apprehensive part is this. My son will be the only Freshman in attendance. This is a full-contact, full-pad 12 hour day With (3) 2 hour "contact sessions" and the remainder filled up with classroom, film, exercise instruction and break/food times. We both just found out tonight that he is the only Fr.

For literally the first time in his life, I've seen him get nervous.

I'd lie if I said I wasnt a touch as well. We know there are 6 kids there who are rising Sr and have accepted D1 offers. Physical size isnt an issue. He can hold his own there, he is a big kid. Plus he has some experience as he played and started Varsity ball as a Fr last year. But as a parent sending a 15 year old to compete not just against 17-19 year olds, but ELITE 17-19 year olds well I have a touch of trepidation. Seeing him be a little nervous SHOCKED me.

Its 1:30 AM and I cant sleep thinking about it.

The twilight zone part of this?

Saturday is tax day. April 16th. 23 years ago to the day 4/16/93 I was a Fr in high school and in a weightlifting class on a Friday morning I tore my ACL...the injury that would eventually end whatever hopes of a football career I had. (When I reinjured/re-tore the ligament 5 years later)

Camps are learning experiences, perhaps even moreso as a freshman in that situation.

He's there for a reason, he's one of that 40, not #63 or #127. I hope he remembers that no matter what the day brings.

Here's to him sucking every bit of good out of it he can get.

Thanks man. That's good perspective I needed. Now lets just hope he doesn't get murdered out there :D

Oh and here is a pic from this past weekend, just because...

Well he survived and even thrived in a few scenarios.
It really gave him a huge confidence boost.

He was beaten and soundly by a couple guys, but he also held his own against those same guys in others drills.

Man he was on cloud nine when it was over beaming ear to ear.

And mine got home just before 9pm, having survived a two-day frat rush weekend ... that included him turning 18 on Saturday.

In addition to being "college t-shirt day" (a major milestone event at our school each year) it's also the first look at the traditional Senior Boards. His take, after pondering how many of those boards he's seen en route to being on one of his own was "I always looked at them and thought 'Well, they're pretty much of here' "

Yeah, he is.

My daughter, Cori's basketball adventure continues.
We got her on an AAU team in the Adidas circuit.
A local tourney has a web site that evaluates players and posts results on their site for colleges. Took her to that. Got some good feedback. Positive feedback in the skills area. But she needs to work on her athleticism. Which I knew.

Then, the other day, Truman St. University sent her an invite to their elite camp. That level is about right for her. Maybe a little high. It is a division 2 school.
Cori is going into 9th grade. She is 6'0" tall. So with a good skill set, she will have an opportunity to play at the next level.

I wont lie, this is something I want. Not just for her, but for me too. Yes, I am living my dream through her. :)

And Truman State is a great University.

And interest often begets interest, other schools get concerned they might be missing somebody. So that's an added benefit.

Funny thing. I emailed my family about it in our daily emails. Seems my Grandpa went to Truman St. (previously known as Northeast Missouri State) almost 100 years ago.

That is a cool thing.

Yep.

Ive posted frequently about my son and his endeavors. Lost in that I have a younger daughter, 12, who is tied with him for worlds greatest kid - thoughI realize several of you would disagree.

She is the brain between the two. I mean really smart, top 5 in her class. and it comes easy.

But she WANTS to be an athlete. Really wants it. She tries so hard with mixed results. Has played softball and basketball the last few years with mixed results. (Basketball as BAAAAD and Softball she is ...starter level bottom 3rd of the lineup for travel ball team (we dont have rec ball so this isnt an elite level travel team.))

Well she decided to try out for Volleyball now that she is in the 7th grade. 45 kids tried out for 12 spots. She just found out she made the team! The only 7th grader they kept...she is so stoked. Its mighty dusty in my office this afternoon...not sure whats up with that.

Sorry had to share with someone.

And on the flipside of all these crazy kids starting college...my oldest starts Kindergarten on Tuesday. Hoo boy.

It's woot-tastic :)

That's great, CU!

My 7-year-old girl was just asked to join a swim team by her swim instructor at the Y. She's really good at the backstroke. :)

Congrats CU.

And Coffee, it is just beginning. Time really starts flying by. Grab hold and enjoy it.

I have 2 in HS now. Junior and a Freshman. Sigh.

This is all great stuff! Congrats on all the successes!

Like CW's, my little girl started Kindergarten this week. She would not let go of our leg, and needed a crowbar to pry her off. But teacher told us afterwards that once we were gone, she did great.

Our son just started kindergarten. He couldn't wait to go into school and away from us. The parents on the other hand were more teary than the kids.

I am so fucking tired right now. Last week my youngest came home sick with a fever Monday last week. Didn't seem so bad at first. His fever spiked the next day and then came the vomiting. Three days later he finally went to the Dr to be diagnosed with Pneumonia. He started antibiotics and the Dr says if he's not back in school on Monday come back and see me. Well, nothing changed. All weekend was fever and vomiting and coughing. New antibiotics, two of them, and perhaps school by Thursday.

I came home from my last trip early because I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to be sick out of the country, luckily that didn't sick around.

My wife is freaking out because we she is exhausted from taking care of him, is trapped in the house, and is worried his seizures will start back up again because he was having a hard time keeping anything down. She's also upset because we haven't been able to do our special Christmas photos and get our cards out. We haven't been able to do the Zoo Festival of Lights or any other Christmas activity while I've been home. We're on a tight time schedule with my job and all. We booked a weekend family trip to Santa Claus Indiana the week before Christmas, even though our kids are pretty old for all that stuff, but we couldn't afford to do it when they were smaller and we are down to the last few years of family Christmases. So she's not dealing well with that either.

My middle son, who is an insane overachiever, will do hours of homework to keep his grades up in his advanced courses. Has multiple after school activities each week, makes himself fake being well when he's sick to avoid losing perfect attendance, wants to go to a residential high school at Western Kentucky after his Sophomore year and knows that it's very competitive and he can't afford to fall behind, didn't feel well yesterday. He stayed up until nearly 1130 trying to finish his homework, before I made him go to bed. He gets up at 545a. He got up to get ready this morning, then fell asleep on the couch in 2 minutes waiting for our time to go to school. Says he's feeling worse and I told him to go back to bed and stay home and he didn't argue. That NEVER happens.

So now I've got 2 sick kids, a stressed out wife, a holiday season that waits for no man, oh, and my oldest has Aspbergers. He's the low needs one right now.

I'm tired.

Just to illustrate how long parenting stress will continue, I'll share this little story.

Guess who's college Honors student -- who had only missed one class his entire first semester -- managed to sleep through his first final of the week?
Yep, and I don't mean by a little bit. I mean slept through it as in woke up after it was over.

So after his panic stricken phone call ("the only thing I can compare the feeling to was my car accident") and our advice to throw himself on the mercy of the court, we spend an hour worrying.

Worrying about the impact on his GPA ... which could get him kicked out of not only the Honors program but also wipe out most of his scholarships. About having an oversleep -- which, you have to admit, happens to most of us at some point in our lives -- cost him pretty much everything he's worked the majority of his life for. About the financial ramifications. About pretty much everything.

An hour later, and a terrified meeting with an understanding professor (who even had advice for how he should handle things the next time he sleeps through an exam) ... re-take is scheduled for later today, no grade penalty attached.

But you wanna talk about a fun 60-90 minutes? Yeah.

So what's the market value for teeth these days? My boy lost his first tooth this morning.

Couple for the first, and 1 for the others is what we did, but we were the absolute shittiest Tooth Faries ever.

We always gave $1.

Then we forgot one night. We told our daughter the tooth fairy must have been real busy.

We put $5 in the next night. I think more to ease our guilt.

My wife was. It's all on her. I was solid.