Rock 'n' roll baby

W: I'm looking for ... I'm looking for ... um ... the bug music, Daddy.
D: The bug music? Do you mean the Beatles?
W: Yeah.

Why?!

does it take me 4 hours and at least 2 different software programs to resize my pictures for the web? Anyway, enjoy my afternoon's work. This was Wrigley in the middle of whining and pouting session. She didn't want me to take a picture of her toes, so I took this one of her head. Then of course, I utilized the real beauty and practicality of a digital camera, I showed her the picture and instantly changed her mood.

Having kids exposes you to really awful music

We've been using shorts pajamas recently, and Wrigley has a pair with submarines on them. Of course, when we put them on or off Wrigley we have to sing, "We all live in a yellow submarine." I am ashamed to say it, but we discovered we didn't know anything past the first verse, so we headed on line to learn the rest. While we got the lyrics, we couldn't find the complete song for free on the web. Of course, she wanted us to play the 25 sec clip we could find over and over and over and over and over. So off to the library web site to put some Beatles on hold. In addition to putting Yellow Submarine on hold, I put on hold a CD called All You Need Is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids. I suspected it would be worthless but thought we'd give it a try.

It was really really bad! All these Beatles songs with the correct music, but sung by children. I think it is cute when my kid sings Yellow Submarine, and I think it is cute when kids I know sing, but this CD goes too far. Surely there is a circle of hell where bad covers of Beatles songs are played for all of infinity. For your own glimpse into this circle, you can listen here and here

That's My Girl!

We went to the bagel store to get a dozen bagels today. While we're in line, Wrig declares "I want pumpernickel!" So, okay, we work a few pumpernickel into the order (don't tell Wrig, but we would have gotten 'em anyway).

After I place the order, Wrig says, "Actually, I don't like pumpernickel."

"Then why did you ask for it?"

"Because it's fun to say."

Where, I wonder, did she learn that kind of logic?

Kid's Night

Wrigley plays this game she calls napping. She hides in the closet, we shut the doors and she bursts out shouting "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, time to wake up". She could do this 100 times before she needs a real nap. She taught the kids at Kid's Night how to play the game too.







Here are more Kid's Night Photos.

Happy Mother's Day!

Christie and I love love love thunderstorms. When we lived in Denver, we eagerly awaited the daily four o'clock gully washer. We courted each other counting lightning strikes out the big windows in her dorm room. When we said we "wanted to live somewhere where it rains all the time" we weren't thinking of Portland's daily drizzle, we were thinking of boom and blast and flash of light.

But this isn't about my beautiful Christie and how much I love her and what a wonderful Mom she is. This is about my mom and what a wonderful Mom she is.

You see, I didn't always love thunderstorms. When I was a little boy, we lived in Iowa. Thunderstorms made my knees knock and my teeth chatter. Worse, they kept me awake at night. The first big boom sent me scurrying to my parents' bed, where Mom would soothe me and comfort me and tell me that I didn't need to afraid of thunder and lightning. I would curl up next to her and sleep like a baby.

A little over 10 years ago, when my folks were living in Florida, I made a stunning discovery: Mom is terrified of thunder and lightning. They make her whole body shake and shiver, not just her knees. She's always been afraid of thunder, even when she was cooing and comforting me.

When I first learned that Mom was afraid of thunder, I thought it was merely ironic. Now that I'm a parent myself, and now that I understand how easy it is to be selfish as a parent, I am amazed at Mom's bravery. I wonder what challenges Wrig will throw my way that I won't be able to met with the grace and courage that Mom has.

I like to think I'm a good parent. I know that Mom has set a very high standard.

I love you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Fun Conversations You Can Have When You're a Parent

Just think, if I had never had a kid, I never would have had the chance to explain why it's a bad idea to lick water off of the back deck ...

Fun Conversations You Can Have When You're a Teacher

The other day, I thought one of my kids had snuck off to the bathroom to get high, and I didn't have time to check it out. I picked out a student that I knew was honest but probably had been to a party or two. "Hey," I asked him, "do you know what pot smells like?"

He froze. It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time, watching those gears grind: Why is he asking me? Do I look stoned? No, I'm not stoned. If I say yes, will he think I'm a stoner? Will he think I'm stoned? Oh, crap! Am I stoned? No, I'm not stoned. Am I in trouble?

"It's okay if you say yes," I say, as reassuringly as possible. "You're not in trouble."

He nods quickly, as if I had asked the most obvious question in the world.