What you think does matter

Ever get lost. Too embarrassed to ask for directions? Are you the type that wont take directions? Well I have a funny story for you. When I first married and moved to Florida - before the kids and all that. My wife wanted to take a trip to miami - you know, look at the beach. Now I didn’t want to go and I let it be known, but I went, I even did the driving. We drove over 600 miles that day why. Because when I finally got to the beach in miami, I was still unhappy and again let it be known - so we argued for 5 minutes, looked at the beach for 2 minutes and then got back in the car to drive back home. of course the traffic was bad and I got lost. It took the insisting nagging push of my wife to get me to ask a police officer [ sheriff here in Florida ] for help with directions. Once on the road it was late and my wife doze off. of course again I got [ let say ] confused and took the Florida turnpike [ wrong, really wrong ] I had no idea where I was, how to get off and I was not going to

What do you do when your facing down possible hurricane It’s been about three or four years since several Hurricanes came thru our town and brought a stop to the belief that people were safe inland. So when the reports came in that tropical storm “fay” was projected to become a level 1 hurricane - lets just say some people went bonkers. I’m glad it didn’t turn out as bad as it was predicted - but there has been a lot of damage, especially flood damage around all parts of Florida. We did our part to get ready for the storm after that we just had to sit and wait. So what do you do while you wait for the worst and try to keep your family calm? Here is what I did: Watched chicken little movie with family Played black jack with kiki Played uno w/ kiki Played with my son Ate dinner together - early just in case Relaxed as son played in shower and daughter played her DS Played battleship w/ kiki Talk with wife and helped clean up [ she always clean when nervous] Relax as waiting for next “fay

First Day of school - first trip of this school year. I don’t know what was worst - being all torn up and trying to be tough or watching my little boys eyes well up with tears as we left him at school all alone. Well not alone - but with out us. I’m sure by now he has a friend and doesn’t remember we exist. It was a hard day for the wife - little girl in middle school [jr high] and little boy starting school - driving her to school was tough - she’s holding back the tears and I’m trying to be strong. Imagine if we both would have broken down..... Here I am - alone at home thinking of when I have to pick him up. Who knew I would miss him so much. Man that kid has me all messed up. Excited but always playing Little girl - first day of Jr High [ middle school ] Have to look good you know - my kids......

It’s a dark day at my house, the first day of Pre-K school is this Monday and today we had to take my four year old son to his school orientation. Getting the family ready today was hectic and probably an indication that everyday from here on forward will be the same. Personally I’m torn - I want my boy to grow up and all that - yet I want him to stay my little man. My buddy I spend my days with. My partner in fighting crime [ or more like committing crimes against my wife wishes.... ] First it was the shock of having my baby girl turn eleven and starting jr high [ here it’s called ‘middle school’ ]. Now I’m faced with my little guy starting school and it’s a bit too much to handle. I know - your thinking I should be celebrating - wee their off to school - I get a break.... But maybe I’m just weird that way. Tell me, who really wants their kids to grow up and face the inevitable that they will leave you and worst - that your growing old. First it’s the first day of school, then they wa

I used to have a boss who apparently only felt comfortable when she made everyone else feel inferior [ dumb ]. It didn't matter what was happening or if she was wrong - as long as she made you look dumb - she was happy. I am so glad I don't work for her any more. That's why I work hard to teach my kids [ especially my daughter ] to value themselves, to feel confident in themselves. Theres nothing wrong with being shy or wrong - but never think less of yourself. Also, it doesn't matter if it's your boss, friend or family, your important and have value... don't let anyone tell you different.

Gummy Bear and My kids - Lord help me... I wrote a post a day or two ago about making sure my kids watch intelligent stuff and the challenge I face with them watching what I call ‘dumb programming”. I also wrote about how as parents we have to be diligent protecting our kids from “improper things” on the internet. I was watching TV in the living room and as usual I decided to sneak up on my kids and take a look at what they were doing online. Normally my daughter gets online to play on kid friendly social sites like Penguin. But what really caught my ear was the singing - especially the catchy toon I heard coming from my computer. Like I said - I wish my kids would watch only intelligent programming - but sometimes I even get caught up with some of these catchy silly videos. I’m not happy she was on Youtube but relieved to find her watching this silly Gummy bear video [ it’s had 10,405,136 views ] That didn't stop me from giving her the parential speech....

In poor taste? My significant other saw a video clip [ part of a video ] I was creating and said that it was done in “poor taste” on my part. Well, I’ll let you be the judge of the complete work. The goal behind this video was to help me talk about the “Effects Movies can have on children”. You see, we let our kids watch just about anything on TV, videos, internet or in the movies. I don’t mean you personally or I myself - I personally try very hard to shield my kids from a lot of programming on TV. But I will admit that America as a whole - parents don’t really concern themselves with what their kids watch. I also admit that there are times I let them watch things they really shouldn’t. Not because it’s bad but because it can effect them adversely. I know this will sound silly and it’s embarrassing to me - but I a grown adult can’t seem to take a shower or use the bathroom without wondering if someone is just on the other side of that shower curtain. Really, Psycho [ Hitchcock's o