Bicycling

Well,

I know it has been a while since my last post...life has a way of getting away from me :)

Wanted to share a bit about the kids today. My third child passed her second bicycle test tonight. She is well on her way to earning a new bicycle.

Here is how it works....

I was trying to find a way to motivate the 8 year old to learn two-wheels (instead of staying on training wheels) and decided to attempt a bribe! I would buy her a new bike if she could pass a test. Ride around the block, ride with me while I walked 3.5 miles and then accompany me on a bike ride around town (of an unknown length).

Lo and behold it worked!! She was motivated to "pass" the test. Which she did in record time and earned a new bike. Know I can't get her off the thing! And mind you, this is the girl that didn't want to be "forced" to ride on two wheels.

Now the 6 year old is ready for her last test tomorrow and ready for her new bike.

The 4 year old is also just about riding solo on two wheels.

Amazing how the right motivation gets them moving.

Now, if I can figure out what will get them motivated about calculus...I'll be ahead of the game for their teenage years :)

Travels with the Kids

So, I've spent the last 10 days on leave taking the kids to visit relatives and sightsee all over the New Haven area. It has been a blast so far (exept for some minor "fighting" when the kids are tired).

We took the train into NYC yesterday, and went to the American Girl Doll Place, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Toys R' Us, and the NYC public library. We ate hotdogs and pretzels from a street vendor and had gelato in Grand Central Station.

So I asked my kids what their favorite part of the day was...

One of them said, "I got to touch the dinosaur toe"...Toys R' Us had a giant T-Rex in the one section and it moved around and growled...she remembers touching his toe...that just killed me that out of the whole day...touching a toe was her highlight.

My other kids liked the American Girl Doll Place (of course), and shaking Spiderman's and Ironman's hands (another Toys R' Us event).

A wonderful day...it is just funny what kids remember.

Been a while

I know it has been a while...writing is harder than I thought :) As my wife says though, if you care about something you make time for it. She is right. So I guess I just need to care more!

I have been wondering lately if my kids would be alright with out me.

We lost some Soldiers recently, and they left behind children. I wonder what they would have wanted to tell their kids. I wonder what their kids would have liked to have said to their dads.

Do they have any regrets?

Will they overcome their grief? Or will it overwhelm them?

What is the difference between those who get on with life and those who slip into depression?

I worry about my kids.

Life is short and we don't know the time or the place.

Have I done enough?

Have I set the right example?

Do they know how much I love them?

Roadblocks

Wouldn't it be nice if life were a well paved road on which you could enjoy a nice smooth ride?

Why must the road be littered with potholes, detours, and roadblocks?

Are these all self-inflicted events? Or is there something out there trying to "get" us to make mistakes?

I can clearly see the direction in which I would like to travel. I can clearly see my destination. But the road between here and there is fraught with peril. Some is my own doing (like lack of proper maintenance), and some I did not anticipate (like a washed out bridge). Where will I get the strength to continue toward my destination despite the setbacks? Where will I get the funds for car repairs? How do I get the people riding with me to stay in the car and trust that I know what I am doing, and where I am going?

Now onto the more concrete thoughts...

My son has been testing me lately. He is talking more, which is a wonderful thing, but his increased vocabulary has been used thus far to express his displeasure with all things that don't feed his immediate desires.

He "doesn't like that"!

I am going to need to plan more time in each activity, each day, each event to plan for the seemingly inevitable meltdown that occurs when he doesn't get his way.

I need to remember to say a little prayer, take a deep breath and understand that I can't control his reactions, but I can control mine; and as his father, I need to be the one to set the example for him to follow.

Easier said than done.

Pray for me.

The Playset

Well, today is the first day of spring! And what better way to ring in the season than by putting up the playset in the backyard.

I had taken the set down last fall in anticipation of a move (which didn't happen)...and I left the set disassembled through the winter because no one was going to use it anyway.

So, yesterday afternoon I trapsed the kids off to Sears to buy some power tool accessories! Last fall I used all hand tools to take the playset apart...it took me two days!

This is no child's playset mind you...when my wife sets her mind to something it is quality...so this is a large wooden playset capable of handling adults swinging on it.

So, using a screw driver to pull out all of the screws and a ratchet to pull out the bolts was a tedious matter.

Today was a pleasure! I used my drill, with the adaptor bits to easily assemble the set. Of course I had some help from my wife and kids...parts of this set are just heavy, and as much as I like to be "the man", I have to admit my limitations.

So it is done...my daughters took the inaugural slide of the season, and so it has begun. Now they'll play outside more, run around more, and hopefully be happy and healthy as we head into summer.

The Birthday Party

So today, we attend a birthday party...and as luck would have it the party is at the local YMCA.

It is a gymnastics party, which means the kids get to run around for an hour before they eat cake. Great idea!

So my wife and I go with the three little kids and we have a BLAST!!! We're on the balance beam, the tumble track, the foam pit, the uneven bars...now mind you, we are not gymnasts, and we are both over 40...but you wouldn't have known it by our enthusiastic performance. I am not sure who had more fun...us or the kids...

We must definitely return to "open" gym time and play again. The kids had such a good time too, playing with us, chasing us around and "showing off" their skills at cartwheels and bridges.

We were the only parents in the foam pit though, and the only ones running around like banshees with the kids. When did we adults stop playing? Come to think of it, I don't remember my parents ever doing stuff like that with us.

Is something wrong with me? Or is it society that norms us into sitting on the sidelines watching the kids have a good time?

In fact, I am thinking that I know where our next date might be...

Forever Young

I called my family this morning (yes I am away again), and my wife told me about a "plot" my children were hatching. They're 7,5, & 3 mind you.

They are planning on "scaring" me when I come home tomorrow. They're going to wait up, hide, and scare me when I get there.

Where do they come up with this stuff?

I have been laughing to myself all day long! I can picture the three of them, hiding in the closet and jumping out at me...and I can't stop laughing when I picture that. Almost makes me want to be the "Catcher in the Rye", and keep them at this age forever.

I start feeling melancholy when I think of them getting older.

I also have a 20 y/o so I have some comparison with which to relate.

It's like I can see what is coming for them and it makes me sad. Not that I am not proud of my oldest, but watching the struggles that go along with adulthood, and wondering if I've prepared them properly and praying they choose the right path...

Can't they stay young and innocent forever?