Happy Father's Day, Dad!

In honor of Father's Day, here are five of my dad's top parenting moments, not necessarily in order:

1. One night when I was little, I was afraid to go to sleep because I was worried I would be attacked by vampires. (Specifically, the Count from Sesame Street.) When all the usual methods for calming a frightened child failed, Dad hit on the brilliant idea of making a sign that said "Vampires Go Home" and hanging it in my bedroom. I went right to sleep.
2. When I was about 8, I got a hula hoop for my birthday. I remember I had to go on a treasure hunt to find my presents, and it was the final one, the big prize. I loved that hula hoop. One day, I discovered that S had cut it open with a butter knife "to see what made the noise." I was furious. First, it was obvious it was a ball bearing inside. Second, even after we taped it together with duck tape, the hula hoop was ruined. Dad decided to use some Old Testament philosophy (eye for an eye and all that) and told me that in relatiation I could smash S's favorite toy, a plastic red caboose. With a hammer. I felt vindicated for a host of little-brother annoyances. For once, my parents had taken my side.*
3. Dad attended all my orchestra and choir concerts. Even the ones that conflicted with the Blazers' NBA playoff games. This is something I appreciate more and more the older my kids get. Even with multiple kids in the school, there are still a lot of musical numbers featuring only other people's kids.
4. Dad helped me with calculus. I have new appreciation for how quickly advanced math concept fade from memory when you're not using them. Dad devised a clever and very effective strategy. He asked questions about the problem, and in the process of answering them, I usually figured out the answer. It's a strategy I'm going to need to dust off soon.
5. Dad supported my summer in Switzerland after my sophomore year in college. Mom had enough reservations that I wouldn't have been able to convince her on my own. It was a fantastic experience, and real turning point for me in terms of my belief in my own capabilities.

* Important disclaimer: I understand this experience looks very different from my brother's perspective. And I learned much, much later that my dad actually didn't expect me to go through with it. He thought I would feel bad for my brother, spare his toy, and forgive him. Oops. I didn't exactly live up to his expectations. And yet, although I am a little ashamed about that, even now, almost 30 years later, I still feel a thrill when I think of smashing that caboose. Sorry, S! I am also sure that my parents took my side many, many times. I just tended to focus on the times they didn't. But we all grew up, and I am happy to be the middle sibling and glad S and I grew so close in high school. So don't worry, Mom!

Those pesky prepositions

LW is struggling a bit with prepositions. Two recent examples:

When watching the Red Sox: Let's go Red Sox! Strike him up! Strike him up!

On seeing me in my reclining chair down by the river: Mommy! You're up side over!

Eventually, he'll figure it out. But it sure is cute in the meantime.

Thunderstorm 1, Motherboard 0

I think that pretty much says it all, don't you?

The stupid powerstrip and surge protector protected everything that is a) old, b) cheap, or c) both of the above, and failed to protect the computer with the inn's financials on it. We took it in to Geek Squad at Best Buy hoping it was just the power supply (we've lost those to thunderstorms before), but no such luck. Hopefully they will finish the data transfer to the new computer tomorrow.

Tonight's lessons

Michael is having a massive allergy attack, so for the first time ever I attended the school concert without him. But, because of the aforementioned allergy attack, I took LW so Michael could rest.

Usually, attending concerts is a two-person job. One of us chases LW and the other one listens to the big kids. (The older kids can't help with LW because they all on mats up front with their classes.)

Which brings us to . . . Five Things I Learned Tonight:

1. A two-year-old will be good if you promise him one M&M at the end of each song. As long as you generously define good as behavior that does not require removal from the gym and allow a fair amount of wiggling and talking.
2. You need more than one sippy cup of water for a single-serving bag of M&Ms.
3. When bribing a two-year-old with M&Ms, bring wet wipes. Or napkins. Or at least tissue. Barring that, sit close enough to the two-year-old's sibling to send said sibling to the bathroom for paper towels.
4. After 3/4 of a bag of M&Ms, the desire to play with the army ant helmets of the class in front of you is greater than the desire for another piece of candy. Fortunately, by then the first- and second-graders are tired of the hats and glad to loan them to the two-year-old.
5. A toddler fed M&Ms from 7:00 to 8:30 stays awake for half an hour trashing his room, instead of going to sleep.

Mosquito banquet

Mosquitoes love me. I currently have 26 bites. Michael has 2 or 3.

Not dead yet

Lack of blogging to the contrary, I am still here.

How was my week, you ask?

I worked ten-and-a-half hours yesterday. After working 48 hours Monday through Friday. Funny looking part-time job.

I actually have time to blog, while waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting for the XML content server. But since work is taking up so much of my time and mental energy, I don't have any thoughts that you would want to read. Unless you like hearing me gripe about server speed and co-workers. And take it from Michael, it's not that interesting.

It's like the book LW and I have been reading this week:

Oh, no! A swamp!
Can't go over it
Can't go under it
Can't go around it
Have to go through it.

See you on the other side.

Sticks and stones

This morning, the younger kids and I dropped Michael and EM off at a trailhead for a day hike. They're planning to hike about 12 miles today.



The trailhead was about a mile and a half up a dirt road that followed a brook. There was a primitive campground, with a little path down to the brook. I let the younger kids play for a few minutes before we left for home. They each claimed a big stone and found a stick sword to use to defend their territory.



They declared a temporary truce to take this picture on IM's stone.