Yesterday I wrote about D and his debut in the school play when he was in fourth grade. You’ll need to read that (click here) before you go on to today’s post; that’s why I named them “Part 1” and “Part 2”, get it? When he was in fifth grade, people were still talking about his role as the Kolokolo Bird and asking him to “KAW!” (And no, it wasn’t just ME doing that. Really: it was other people, like teachers!) He was very blase’ about the whole thing; he liked the attention but was by this time into other things, namely reading the series of children’s books called “A…
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The Time My Kid Almost Became Nicole Kidman’s Husband. Well, sort of. (Part 1)
The great thing about life is that strange and wonderful opportunities have a way of presenting themselves when you least expect them, and if you choose to take advantage at the time, you can find yourself experiencing really awesome things, even if it’s only for posterity. When D was in fourth grade, he became involved in the school play. A fourth grade teacher (not his) headed up the production each year and, for an elementary school, it was always quite elaborate. That year, the kids were putting on a play called “The Elephant’s Child”, by Rudyard Kipling. He signed up to stay after school for practice several days per week,…
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Finally, Our Eagle Scout’s Court of Honor!
Many of you have followed our son’s journey to Eagle Scout, including the details of his Eagle project, which was the landscaping in the front yard of our temple. You know he finally officially earned the rank of Eagle on August 12th. That’s actually when the celebration begins. We had to plan his Court of Honor, the ceremony during which he is presented with his badge, awards, certificates and other goodies, and where he can be recognized personally by friends and family. After a couple of months full of preparations like invitations, letters to dignitaries, script-preparing, and of course, a special scrapbook, the festivities took place yesterday at our temple,…
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Look At His Gorgeous Chompers!
Yesterday was a huge day for the older boy. After three years of wearing braces (plus the one year before that, during which he wore a mouth expander), he got everything removed. It was pretty exciting, and he looks fabulous! (Believe me, after what Jim and I spent on orthodontics, there would have been hell to pay if the result was any different!) In honor of the occasion, I put together a huge bag of his favorite chewy candies (Mary Janes–blech!– and Milk Duds–yum!), along with gum drops, Hot Tamales, and Dots. It totally slipped my mind to buy him bubble gum, but he informed me that he picked some…
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Like Big Brother, But On A Smaller Scale.
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! Our varsity lacrosse coach is fabulous. He is from the northeast part of the country (where lacrosse has been huge for years) and is very, very passionate about the sport. He still plays, in fact. He is well known for being very, very tough when it comes to the game (or practice) in progress, but also has the ability to goof off with the boys in…
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Here’s a Trick That’s Also a Treat.
Remember, back in the day, when pulling innocent pranks in school (the ones that weren’t meant to hurt anyone; just cause a bit of a distraction) meant putting a whoopie cushion under an unsuspecting victim, hiding their lunch, or slapping a “kick me” sign on their back? Those days are over. Today, one of the “big” pranks is called “nuggeting”, which is basically just turning a backpack inside out and putting the stuff back in it. I asked my younger son to give a demo, so those of you who have no idea what this entails can now be informed (and possibly downright hip if you bring it up in…
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Indy Flight
Let’s say you’ve got a kid between the ages of 8 and 17. And let’s say that the kid really wants to fly a plane. Scratch that. Let’s say that you have a kid who may not know he wants to fly a plane, but if you were to offer him the chance to fly a plane, he would nearly jump out of his skin (from excitement) at the thought of doing it. Let’s say that you take him to the local airport where there happens to be a Young Eagles program, and let’s go ahead and say that once he meets the volunteer pilot who is nice enough to…
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An Advanced Moment of Profundity
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! I have written about the younger boy in terms of his teenaged moodiness, comparing it to frogs and John Belushi. The teenaged hormones in general? Well, they can suck it. However, I am pleased to report that in our house, it seems we have turned a corner. Michigan J. Frog-style regressions are few and far between these days, and it seems like we are starting to…
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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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What A Great Idea He Had!
The older boy has been looking for a job for the last month or so, more vigorously since he returned from his Boy Scout high adventure. School starts in ten days, you see, and we would all love it if he could get a part-time job nailed down before then. Last month I told a Tale of Two Workers, parts one and two, about the vast differences in working philosophies–or maybe I should say “desires”–between my two boys. In part two, I mentioned how I have, for a long time, been trying–with ALL my might–to plant the seed in my older son’s head about getting a job at a restaurant…