A Parent's Influence

(It has been ages since I posted last. My excuse is that I’m earning my Executive MBA and making free time to blog isn’t a priority. I have never been a frequent blogger but going to school full-time makes it even harder.)

I took special pride in my older kids today. Their actions re-assured me that my place of influence as a parent is not dead. Without any prompting from me, they held their own “See you at the pole” day at their small middle-school. My son and daughter walked past the open door to stop and pray for their school and community before class.

As a parent I often fear the challenges facing my children in modern society. My knee-jerk reaction is to want to protect them. Just by shear number of minutes I fear I will lose the battle to influence my kids. As they grow older I try to teach by influence rather than control, to discuss rather than command. A philosophy of gradual independence, the more they mature, the more freedom they earn and the less we command. Today they showed me they can make good, even noble choices. I am proud of them.

Finally, Spring!

Saturday dawned with the first, real, significant spring weather. It was bright and sunny with a predicted high in the mid-60's. I've been no-so-patiently waiting for spring to arrive so I could plant the peach trees and blue-berry bushes I bought weeks ago. The weird part of the day was clearing an area out of the snow to plant the trees. By mid-afternoon the day had warmed up and so had my neck and top of the head. The equation ss + rsp - fhh = sb accurately captures the experience, Sun Shine + Reflected Snow Properties - Full Head of Hair = Sunburn.
The kids enjoyed the day as well. They took large sticks to attack the various piles of snow about the yard calling themselves "The army of spring." Their plan seems to be working as the scattered piles were the first to disappear this weekend. The last little joy of spring was driving by the ice-free little lake near our house. Its finally time to buy my fishing license.

Dribbles

My wife is not into blogging. Reading blogs, yes. Writing blog, no. However, she recently sent along this story via email that I'm taking the liberty to post here. Enjoy!

Yesterday we were visiting with Mrs. Barbara, my youngest son's preschool teacher. She was telling us that over the years of working with lots of little boys at the preschool/daycare they have learned to ask the boys to “clean up your dribbles” after a trip to the bathroom. So last week during preschool as a little boy came out of the bathroom she asked him if he’d checked his dribbles and he pops up with, “My brother, has a dribble!” Mrs. Barbara was a bit surprised, but she is used to this kind of “announcement” so she made some comment like: “Well, I’m sure he takes care of it” and started to go on with class when my son says, “Yep, he keeps it in his room and feeds it and his name is Matthias.” Mrs Barbara, was a little stunned until she realized he was talking about the GERBIL!! Mrs. Barbara thought it was hilarious!!!

The Crying and the Moaning and the Screaming...

If you have small kids then you have to watch this one.

Dear Sign

I took up a new hobby when I moved back to Idaho a few years ago, deer hunting. What began as a simple interest has now flared to an annual 6 week obsession. My wife is usually pretty good about the time I spend out in the woods. However, by the end of November I begin overhearing whispered words such as “intersession” and “addiction” in her phone conversations.
I really blew it big just two Saturdays ago when I spent the whole day, dawn-to-dark hunting. Just a normal November Saturday except this time I was leaving the next day for a week-long training class. This would have been a good time to have studied “dear” sign instead of deer sign because I missed all the clues. I am resolved not to make that mistake again.
This week’s hunting is off to a promising start. Because of Thanksgiving, I will have Thursday morning and all the weekend to find that big buck I missed. I won’t be in trouble with my wife because all the relatives will be here to keep her company. As I head out the door with rifle in hand I catch a funny look from my wife…I think a relative is starting to get on her nerves.