Category Archive: Life

General ramblings about life

May 21

LITTLE LEAGUE

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Life, My Kids

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Little LeagueLittle League is over. Thank God! Having one kid in Little League is enough of a time suck by itself. Having four kids in it is ridiculous.

My triplets graduated to Farm League and were all put on the same team so that they could play together. At first the coach thought this was a good thing because they would work well together as a team, which they did. It became a bad thing when, because of family events, we had to pull them from a couple of games.  All of a sudden he was three players short and had to forfeit a couple of games.

Farm League is also when the playing gets a lot more serious. It’s no longer, “It’s just a game!”, or “The kids should just have fun!”.

Now the coaches and the parents get in the kid’s faces with, “You should’ve got that one!”

Coaches are also stacking their teams. There was one team this year, the Dodgers, that I swear had kids who were shaving and they were put in the 7 to 9 year old category. Those kids were hitting the ball out of the park.

The good times are there too. The thrills of hitting a double, tagging someone out, or scoring a run are very real now.  The innocence  is gone though.

But, we still had Tee Ball.

When we told Matthew he was old enough to play baseball he jumped up and down and yelled, “I’m not a mascot now, I’m a player!”

For the past two years we told him he was the team mascot so that he could feel involved. When the kids were on the Pirates he would come to the games dressed in his little Halloween pirate outfit and yell “AAARRRGGHH” a lot during the game.

Now he’s a Yankee. This made him the villain for a short period of time because the triplets were on the Mets. There were a couple of early arguments in the house on who was the bad guy until I told them all that the best team was really the Chicago Cubs. My wife and I are from the Midwest.

Tee Ball is a trip. If you’ve ever watched a Tee Ball game it’s like herding cats. Sometimes the batter runs to third instead of first. An excited fielder jumping up and down might not be a motivated player. He might  have to go potty and will simply run off of the field if nature calls. Throwing the ball usually involves some kind of floppy hand gesture that gets it about three feet. After multiple attempts the player just picks up the ball and walks it to where he wants it to go.

The funniest experience was when Matthew put on his athletic protector for the first time. He stood proudly in a Superman stance and yelled, “Go ahead! Hit me in the penis! It doesn’t hurt!”

During the games, when he was bored in the outfield he was seen by everyone smacking his fist into his cup, just pounding away.

Tee Ball has no losers, every game is a tie. Boy , if life was that simple…

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May 18

Another One Bites the Dust

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Life, Technology

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Another One Bites the Dust

The latest casualty of the internet revolution is the business card.   The little 2 by 3.5 inch pieces of cardboard are seen as quaint relics of a bygone age.  Once a staple in briefcases and wallets around the world, they are viewed with derision by the young uber techies in society. People who use them are viewed as dinosaurs and out of touch with the latest technology.

U.S. sales of business cards have fallen consistently since the late 1990s with the slide accelerating significantly since the advent of smart phone technology. Some 77 million smartphone users have downloaded the “Bump App”, which allows them to bump their phones together and instantly exchange contact information.

You can read the story online at the LA Times: “Passing out business cards is quickly becoming passé“.

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May 16

THE ICE CREAM DATE

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Life, My Kids

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Ice Cream DateTHE ICE CREAM DATE

A little while back my boy Matthew turned five.  For his birthday I told him he could have a birthday party or a family day trip to Lego Land in San Diego.

“I want both!”, he replied.

“No”, I said. “You have to pick one or the other.”

“Can Reagan come to Lego Land?”

“No.”

“But I wanted Reagan to come to my birthday party”, he said sadly. I knew he was going to pick Lego Land.

Reagan is the little girl who lives across the street. He really cares about her and Matthew lights up every time she walks in the room.  He’s known her since he was born. They go to the same pre-school. They even have a pinky promise that someday they will get married and move to Hawaii.

When I saw how sad he was at the prospect of not celebrating his birthday with her I got an idea.

“You can go to Lego Land and you can pick a day to ask Reagan to go with you to get some ice cream.”

“Huh?”, he replied.

” I’ll take you and Reagan out to get ice cream.”

His face lit up. “Just me and Reagan?!”

“Yup.”

“Coooooooooooooooool!” He ran out of the kitchen and went off to tell everyone else in the house.

The next day at pre-school,  Matthew entered the classroom and walked straight up to Reagan.

“Reagan”, he said excitedly. “Will you go with me to get some ice cream?”

She looked at Matthew and then up at me with a confused expression.  I explained to her that he couldn’t have a birthday party and told her how sad he was that she wouldn’t be part of it.

She smiled from ear to ear, “REALLY!?”, she asked looking back at Matthew.

Matthew was beaming and his head bobbed up and down yes about a thousand times in a few seconds.

“OH YES!”, she cried out while giving him a big bear hug, “I WILL GO FOR ICE CREAM WITH YOU! I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!”

That night I bumped into Reagan’s dad, Brad, outside his house.  He came over and we talked.

“What’s this I hear about Reagan going out for ice cream? That’s all she’s talked about since I picked her up from pre-school today.”

I explained everything and he just smiled and shook his head. His wife had the same reaction. When the day for the ice cream date finally arrived, I picked up Matthew at 12:30 and took him home. Reagan stays at school till 4. That’s when her dad gets off of work.

When Matthew got home he ran straight upstairs. He came down about 15 minutes later dressed in his Sunday clothes and his hair was wet and slicked down.  He never got dressed that fast in his life! Matthew looked like a handsome little gentleman.

“Whoa! Slow down sport,” I said. “Reagan is still at school for a while.”

He was upset and very frustrated.  The hours passed slowly as he repeatedly went to the window and peered out to see if Reagan’s car had pulled into their driveway. When it finally did he exploded with energy and dogged me until I finally had my shoes and jacket on and was ready to go.

We walked across the street . I let him go to the door. Her mom answered with Reagan at her side. Reagan was wearing a bow in her hair. I talked to her mom for a minute and then we were off.

We were the only ones in the ice cream shop. When I explained to the two female employees behind the counter what was up they both looked at each other and said, “aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww!”

The two picked out what they wanted, I seated them at a small table, then I picked a corner of the parlor and just watched, along with the ice cream parlor ladies.  Matthew and Reagan ate their ice cream and stared into each other’s faces, talking about who knows what, just like any other couple, about whatever couples talk about over an ice cream. They were in their own world.  I kept trying to imagine these kids at 16. What would they be like? Then I gave up and just watched them as they were. It was too cute.

It lasted only 20 minutes. They ate all that they could. I had the leftovers boxed up to take home and we left.

When we got to Reagan’s front door Matthew said to her, “I had a wonderful time.”

“Thank-you for the ice cream Matthew”, she replied  and hugged him good-bye.

Matthew was quiet for the rest of the evening, in his own universe, probably reliving his date. Shannon, my wife, was eager for the details.

After I told her everything her expression turned to shock.

She  yelled at me, “YOU DIDN’T GET PICTURES?!”

 

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Nov 23

My Kids Are Growing Up So Fast

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Life, My Kids

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My Kids Are Growing Up So Fast

It’s almost that time.  My last child is getting too old for naps and that special time I had with him, snuggling up in the afternoon is finally going to be gone.  My favorite part of parenting has always been that feeling of a child curling up on my chest or snuggling next to me and then going to sleep.  I don’t know how else to explain it except that it feels  like a perpetual hug.  At the risk of losing my “Man” card, I wish they could stay little for a lot longer.

My kids are growing so fast. The triplets will be seven in January.

Rose is already wearing some of my wife’s old clothes. She wears Shannon’s t-shirts as jammies and some of her old blouses with a belt or something around the waist. She’s starting to look long and beautiful, a real little lady.

Joseph is no longer the Thomas the Tank Engine loving kid he used to be. Now  he’s all about jet airplanes and robotics. I build electronic circuit projects with him and he actually understands what’s going on.

Michael is our little book worm. He reads very well and takes after his mother as far as smarts go. He will be the brainiac of the three.

All of this is cool. It’s amazing to watch them grow and mature. When I first saw it happening in them I comforted myself with, “Well, I still have Matthew for a while longer.”

Now that’s going away too.

He wants to be like his older siblings so badly that he tries to do everything they do. Sometimes he succeeds but mostly it just ends in frustration.  It’s very cute to watch, we comfort him and it all works out. He throws the most tantrums but I understand where it comes from.  And I see in his eyes the understanding he is acquiring about everything around him and he doesn’t want to be little anymore. At four and a half he’s done with baby toys, tricycles, training wheels and will start t-ball sooner than I can imagine.

Regularly, someone I’m talking to will say, “Hey, pretty soon your  littlest one will be going off to Kindergarten and you’ll have all of them in school full time. Wow, you’ll enjoy that!”

I just wish they’d shut up.

 

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Nov 22

SNOW

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Life

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Snow

Christmas is coming and  I must admit that I’m starting to feel the Christmas spirit. I know that it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet but I’m a sucker for everything that has to do with the holiday. The mail is full of catalogs, the radio is already playing carols, Christmas tree lots are starting to open and my kids are bombarding me with present suggestions. The dog even came back from the groomer today with a Christmas bow tied around his neck.

We don’t get snow here but I am fortunate in that off in the distance I can see the mountains. They are already dusted with snow and soon they’ll have a lot more.  If I really need a snow fix I can load the family in the van and drive there for a day of sledding .  My wife and I grew up in the Midwest so we know how to act in the snow. We do the right thing and put chains on the tires, dress the kids warm and anything else that’s required so that we don’t have problems. But this being California it’s not always your behavior that gets you messed up, especially when it has to do with snow. There are a lot of steeyuuupid people out here who have absolutely no idea how to deal with snow, or any kind of weather for that matter. But snow is the worst.

I don’t know how many times we’ve gone up into the mountains and have seen a Mercedes, or some other expensive car,  stuck in a drift. The car has no chains, the guy driving is wearing clothes better suited for the beach and his date is in a short, short skirt and wearing stiletto heels.

You just know that earlier they were at the bottom of the mountain, bored, and one of them suddenly said, “Hey, it snowed in the mountains last night! Let’s go take a look!”

Then the two are stuck and he’s trying to get cell service on his phone for a tow and his girlfriend is freezing her over exposed ass off.

Then there are the drivers that you know are native Californians because every time there’s a little ice on the road they totally freak out. And when there’s a lot of ice they are hopeless.

My personal favorite Socal snow newbie is the guy with the big ass pickup truck that drives all the way up to the snow,  then shovels his truck bed full of the white stuff and then drives back down the mountain with it. We had some neighbors who did that so they could have snowball fights. It’s a lot of work but it just proves the magic of the white stuff. No matter how much you might hate it over a long period of time, there is still a magic grace period when it will bring out the kid in everyone. And if it’s Christmas, then that’s just an unbeatable combination.

 

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