First Day of School Fall 2011

Both Caleb, 9,  and Abby, 7,  have been excited for a few weeks to return to school.  Abby was especially excited to be at school for the full day and enjoy the fine cuisine of the elementary cafeteria and of course, recess.  Hearing her talk about recess makes me miss recess!

  As a parent, I couldn't be more proud of how well they are doing in school.  They both are confident and happy to start the adventure of a new school year.

  The night before the 1st day of school I had a nice chat with both Caleb and Abby separately.  Abby told me that she was nervous that she didn't know everyone in her class.  And sometimes it takes her a long time to learn every kids' names.  I assured her that she'd learn their names soon enough.  Ever the social butterfly, it will only be a matter of days before her new teacher will be asking Abby to not be chit-chatting during work-time.

  Caleb and I had a nice chat about swear words.  I asked Caleb if he knew what swear words were and if he hears them much.  Caleb likes to pretend to be much more innocent than he really is, like he's never heard any cuss words.  When I asked him if he knew any swear words, his smooth answer was, "they always beep out the words, so I don't know what they're saying".  We went over many swear words and their respective definitions with the instructions that he never use them.  We'll see how well that works out.

 Monica and I have taken advantage of the free day-care and warm weather by spending the last few days together, including a great day of just floating on the boat staring into each others eyes.

Giving Treats to the Poor

Every couple weeks or so, both Caleb and Abby are asked to provide treats for their classes. Yesterday, Monica sent two boxes of granola bars with Caleb for his class to share. Last night, we were all gathered on the couch talking about our days and Monica asked if the kids liked their granola bars. Caleb answered, "I decided to change that."
Monica asked what it meant to "change that"?
Caleb said, "I decided to give the granola bars to the poor people instead".
We're pretty sure that this means that Caleb took his class's treat and put them in boxes for the school's food drive.
What's a parent to do for that? Monica and I tried for few seconds to explain that that food was intended for his class, but it was quickly stopped by our beaming smiles full of pride. What a good kid.
He's well on his way to being jail-free.

Abby's 1st Day of School

Abby's first day of pre-school was today. Like most parents with more than one child, her "firsts" are our "seconds" so they don't get as much hype.
There is no doubt in my mind that Abby will thrive in a school setting. She has been pretending to do school-work with her brother since age 2. She doesn't have to pretend anymore though, she's now going to a real school.
Mon and I are very proud of the angel Abby has turned out to be, though we are fully aware that there's a slight chance that her angel-like attributes may wear out the closer she comes to being a teenager. A friend of mine who's daughters are currenly teens, saw Abby jump in my lap a few days ago and said, "Enjoy it while she still likes you in the same room". We do enjoy Abby very much. She's our princess.

I May Be a Nurse, But I'm Still A Man

To say that Caleb was excited about school would be somewhat misleading, truth is he was estactic, but not about school as much as riding the bus. He woke up, put his clothes on and came into our bedroom at 6 AM stating he was ready and asking if we could take him to the bus stop. The bus doesn't come until 9. I worked the previous night, so I was pretty tired. I knew it was going to be an exciting time, but I wasn't really prepared for what happened. The bus came, Caleb gave Monica and me a hug and then ran to the bus, never looking back. He didn't even sit on our side of the bus to wave good-bye! Then I lost it, I dropped my man-hood and cried. He's all grown up. Monica was laughing at me. And I quickly snapped out of it. Hopefully I'll get over this sappy stuff now and get on with my life. I need to build something, chop up something, or maybe even kill an animal and drag it home....anything to regain my swagger.

Dear Caleb

Tomorrow, you start kindergarten. I've tried to explain that you'll be in school for the next 20 years, so just take it one day at a time.. but you don't seem to be catching my sarcasm.
I'm stunned that you are now entering public education. My boy is growing up. You haven't even started full-day school and I already miss my helper.
You're growing up too fast. A few days ago you liked watching Oobi and Scooby Doo, but now you watch Icarly and 'Drake and Josh'. Your Mom was quizzing you the other day if you knew what the show was about and asked you if you knew what a 'date' was and you answered "Mom...come on, you know..it's when a boy and a girl go to a restaurant and then do something fun". You're only six!! Stop that!
I remember before you were born wanting you so bad it hurt. And your life has brought me more joy than I thought. You are everything I could want in a son. I am deeply humbled that God has been so good to me that he sent you to me. God sent me a Jazz fan, how lucky is that!! I promise that in return to the blessing of being your Dad, I will give you every opportunity in the world to be successful and happy.
So as you move on to the "big" school. Please know that I love you very much. You make me heart melt. You make one of the happiest men alive smile often. You, along with your mom and sister, are my passion. Have a good day son.