We went out for ice cream with the kids (gotta get to DQ before they close for the winter), and the younger one was quite entertaining. First, he spent 20 minutes straight talking about how he wanted a...from the Big Bang!" YS: "But how did dey get frew da Big Bang?" At this point, we're all giggling hysterically because younger son is asking these questions with incredible melodrama. He's a hoot

If you are at all familiar with Love and Logic , it's a great way to help kids learn to be more independent and think before they do (or don't do) something. The idea is basically to set kids up to...me. I made some off-handed comment about how having underwear the next day would probably be good. He got this horrible look on his face. "Yeah. It was pretty...uncomfortable...today." *giggle

Why do they have to mow the lawn at 7:30 a.m.? I find this a bit curious as when the mowed the lawn last week, it was at 9:30 a.m. and I was trying to sleep then, too. The older one has been on a class...new school. There was so much teasing and harassment going on that, at one point, older son had to confront someone in the counselor's office. I'm so glad we don't have to deal with that anymore

Most young men who engage in acts of violence — or who watch them and do nothing, or who joke about them with their friends — fully subscribe to traditional ideologies about masculinity. The problem isn’t...are still ubiquitous. And, on a very personal note, I am hugely relieved to have my son out of that environment and in a place where it's much safer to be an empathetic, ethical, and sensitive boy

Cool stuff I found on the web: Michael Palin for President : A Palin we can all stand behind What Not to Crochet featured a hand-gun cozy. Just what every NRA fanatic in your life wants. Please make...than when I took a similar class. This is great for the kids, but I'm nervous because a lot more can go wrong with a demo of a kick-ass computer program than showing them how to use elevation maps

I bet you're all dying to know how the older one did. He made it home just fine. I actually met him at the transfer point, and we rode the second leg together. However, he had no problems getting there... his aunt took off with him, and he willingly got in the car.) But I think most people are rather ignorant of statistics. It's funny to know that a little math could help people trust each other more

Elizabeth Stone said, "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” This statement couldn't be more true than it is...myself of this because otherwise the anxiety would be way too much to handle. As anxious as I am, I feel better knowing that I'm not convinced everyone out there has the intention of hurting my child

Mike got a copy of EMC-opoly at the EMC Symposium. It's a very commercial version of Monopoly, where company names are listed in place of the regular properties and such. It was free, and some of the cards...was enough to satisfy him. The annoying thing about this game is that the older one kept asking me, "What does that mean?" I guess that unless you have a background in EMC, it's not quite so funny

Today involved a lot of shopping. I bought a few things for my new place, and Mike needed some new clothes for the conference. Of course, he won't go shopping unless I drag him kicking and screaming because...have one. My response was, "I'm sorry, but we can't get you one tonight.") I'm not too worried, though. In a few years, they probably won't realize it's the same kid they think is well-behaved

111 Duplos See, duplos are good for something.