Sometimes the boys need coaxing to get in front of the camera. Sometimes they don’t. Believe it or not, they all get along as well as expected for being so close in age.
Category: Family
A football Christmas list
As much as his younger brother loves Star Wars, the eldest son love sports. In summer it is baseball. This winter he likes basketball, but he is football-crazy right now. He prodded me to find the Pro Bowl voting mobile website so he could vote when we were away from the computer. I suppose it is no surprise that he asked Santa for the things he did.
By the way – I misspoke when I guessed the century that the real Saint Nicholas lived.
A Star Wars Christmas list
My kids are more entertaining than I will ever be, so I’ve decided to grab a video camera and let them share their thoughts. Being so close to Christmas, sugar plumb droids dance in their heads.
Which images may be disturbing?
Today I watched more television than I typically do. The bulk of the afternoon was consumed by a glorious victory by my Cleveland Browns. It was nice to share the sweet peanut butter flavored ambrosia with my boys. Today’s contest against the Dolphins was broadcast on CBS. This network uses its NFL games to promote its other programming. This presents a problem. Much of the programming they are promoting consists of crime dramas and murder mysteries. Hence, fictitious and gratuitous gun play, violence and human corpses are splashed across the screen.
Watching sports can be a great bonding experience with my young boys, so I’ve learned to keep a remote near at hand so I can change the channel when the body count in these promos gets too graphic for our kids, the oldest being seven years old. Way back in the day I remember there used to be a safe harbor concept where adult themes were only presented in the evening after it was assumed children would not see it. This afternoon at about 3:15 I was not quick enough on the remote and we were treated to the image of a dead Santa. Gee, thanks CBS. That was a conversation I wasn’t looking to have with my kids.
This was still sticking in my craw when later in the evening I was watching Sara Palin’s Alaska. Sarah and her father were caribou hunting to put food in the freezer. I can’t really think of anything more wholesome. A father and daughter spending time together and respectfully harvesting the bounty laid before us.
But guess what? This program was slapped with a warning that the images we were about to see may be disturbing and viewer discretion was advised. So let’s compare and contrast.
- Gratuitous violence against humans for entertainment – OK any time for any audience. Even if we off Santa.
- A family hunting together to put food on the table – possibly so disturbing we must be warned so we might protect ourselves from the horror of it all.
Once again, I’m left to wonder how we got to this point.
Yes. I will raise another generation of Indians Fans
Last night I lamented the sorry state of being a fan of Cleveland sports teams. I even questioned my decision to raise my children as fans of the Cavs, Indians and Browns.
It was just the rum and Coke talking. I intend to raise my boys as Cleveland sports fans. When we win it all in any league (I’m praying it is the World Series) that will be peanut butter and chocolate ambrosia!
The following is a dramatization of an actual conversation. I later told the boy I was only joking about the tent. I may have been lying.
Thoughts about raising my boys as Cleveland sports fans
The much ballyhooed return of LeBron James to Cleveland finally happened tonight. It wasn’t pretty. Terry Pluto sums up the event and the game. It is enough to say we saw a great disappointment for Cavaliers fans. I did not expect the team to win, but it was an embarrassment of colossal proportions. No offense and the defensive was softer than a rotten stinking soft-boiled egg.
Of course TNT couldn’t wait to trot out the “Cleveland sports is full of fail” package. Which makes me wonder if this repeated exposure to almost certain failure can actually damage the psyche of my children. I’ve always said that it is my birthright to be an Indians fan because my father inherited it from his grandfather. But my great-grandfather was a fan in 1920 and my father was a fan in 1948. They at least tasted the exotic ambrosia of a championship.
I have to describe that taste as “exotic ambrosia” because I have no idea what that taste really might be. Ultimate victory might taste like peanut butter. Still, I encourage my sons to be Browns, Indians and Cavs fans. I do think that facing disappointment in youth makes a better-formed man. I’m just afraid too much disappointment might ruin one’s optimism.
Which would be a shame, because my boys and I really like peanut butter.
Preschool wisdom from the apple orchard
I had the pleasure of accompanying Patrick’s preschool class to Eddy Fruit Farm today. It is a tradition now that Daddy takes the boys to the apple farm for the field trip. I went with James’ kindergarten class last week to Patterson’s. In previous years I took John.
So I’ve been to one or the other apple farm on at least four trips in recent years. And you would be amazed at what you can still learn. For instance, I learned that the official apple of the State of Ohio is the Melrose. Farmer Eddy taught us that.
But the best part is when the instructors have a Q & A with the preschoolers. Three-year-olds are not shy about talking a wild guess when asked a question.
For instance, Farmer Eddy said that they are picking so many apples at this time of year that they can’t put them all in in the store and sell them. What do you think we do with the rest of the apples? Patrick was quick to blurt out “Eat them!”
The nice lady reading the book about baking apple pies asked what spice people use in apple pie. Pat offered “Apple Pie Spice”. I think she was looking for cinnamon, bit when you think about it, any spice that is used on making apple pie really is apple pie spice.
Mr. Eddy and the nice ladies at story time have probably seen hundreds of preschoolers, perhaps thousands through the years. I tip my hat to how kind an patient they are with the little ones. And I can’t wait to see them next year.
By the way, you can find Eddy Fruit Farm on Facebook
Time for school pictures
Well. Autumn is now officially here, I really don’t care what the calendar says or if it is meteorological autumn. I know that Fall has arrived because tomorrow is school picture day.
James (our kindergartner) decided today that he would like to wear a bow tie for his picture. I loved the idea. However, we have no bow ties in the house, particularly in his size that would match his shirt. Also, we’d run the risk that he would come home crying tomorrow because the other kids might be unaccustomed to a handsome young man wearing a bow tie.
If faced with a five-year-old coming home from school in tears, I promise you I will not tell him “It’s only because they are jealous.” You see, that was my mother’s usual reply after I had a rough day in grade school. She may have actually felt that this was the root cause of kids being mean. I’ve always tended to notice that some kids just tend to be mean. One could argue that they are simply enjoying some popularity among their peers at a young age and that by the time they reach adulthood the world will be wise to them. But then we all know adults that really aren’t “over themselves” just yet.
So my hope for James is that he smiles that handsome huge grin of his and enjoys a good day. The photo above is your author in second grade. It would have been better with a bow tie.
My boys are Browns fans
If you are from Cleveland nobody needs to tell you that of all the major sports teams, the Browns have the most loyal fan base. For some reason every fall brown and orange apparel, flags, etc reappear as sure as the crocus in the Spring.
Why? I’m not sure. The less sentimental among us might point out that the team here now is really a shadow of the glory of 1964 (or 1980 even). The original team is in…I can’t even say it. The wound is still too fresh.
In spite of that, we still care enough to root for them and carve out time every Sunday they play to turn our attention to them. And mutter under our breath when the inevitably disappoint us. It builds resiliency, being a Browns fan. You learn that you can’t abandon all hope even when there hasn’t been much good news. That may be why we are raising our boys to be Browns fans.
Questions from a five year old
It is easy to forget that things adults “just know” are clouded in mystery to children. Today my five year old was in the bedroom containing the bed that Joyce and I share. We have four kids, it’s safe to assume we share a bed.
He asked “why do you sleep here and Mommy sleep here?” Uh-oh! Think quick. I’m not having THAT talk with a five year old. (Even this five year old. He also said recently “I don’t like girls. Well, I like some of their faces. But I don’t like their toys.”)
I gave a true answer – I thought it was crafty because it answered his specific question. I told him I used to sleep on the side by the alarm clock, but Mommy and Daddy had to switch because Daddy hits “Snooze” too much.
He wasn’t satisfied “No, why don’t you have your OWN bed?” I just told him that I wanted to be near Mommy because she is nice. I’m afraid he thinks I’m not all together too smart.