Newfangled Dad

Much has been made lately about the controversy over the author who writes the "how to beat your kids" book and how people have used his text to abuse their children. I haven't weighed in because it seems mostly like another manufactured internet I'm-offended-let's-give-it-attention story. Some of us have our own parenting problems. In our case, it's tough to know what to do with Cole sometimes. It's a perfect storm of him being a typical boy, emotionally sensitive/aware, and having sensory problems. He knows certain behaviors are wrong and what is expected of him. He's intelligent--sometimes too much for his own good--and can be clever and manipulative and frequently immature and sometimes quite reasonable. It makes it difficult to find a consistent strategy to redirect unwanted behavior. Not that we aren't partly responsible ourselves. We'll own up to needing to be better about keeping it more like dog training...you only say no once. The...

For those curious about what happened in last night's Village Board meeting...it was a first reading of a proposed ordinance so nothing really "happened" other than a discussion about the law. I didn't go but we watched it from home on the village's tv channel. Overall, I was pleased with the direction of the conversation. The police chief was there. The doctor being used as an adviser for the health aspects. And it quickly centered around the idea that people are in favor of kids wearing bike helmets, but uneasy with setting it up as a punitive ticket-fine scenario. The focus is really on the police interaction with older, unsupervised youths and wanting to make it a positive experience about education. So there were a lot of questions about how the police contact parents when stopping a child on a bike without a helmet. Calling mom and dad, documenting the incident, etc.. There's a weird (imagine that!) quirk in our village code that doesn't allow or...

I had the chance to go to a Kona watch-party on Saturday, but decided to stay home instead. So I only caught about 75% of the NBC coverage because my kids were either screaming or busy trying to get my attention the rest of the time. But I liked what I saw. As usual. I think they do a good job each year of balancing the pro race with the drama of age groupers trying to finish before midnight, overcoming obstacles, or just explaining the day-to-day suffering we go through as triathletes to train and race. Most of us only dream about riding Queen K in the World Championships of our sport. Then again, how many of us had our initial interest in triathlon come from seeing the annual broadcast and quietly thinking to ourselves, "hey, I want to do that." It's a nice reminder each year. 5 years ago if you'd told me how far Ironman is I'd have been unable to even ponder that number. Once you're in the fishbowl, things mutate and suddenly going for a half mile swim ...

I decided the time was right to make some small updates to the blog. I weighed a more major layout tweak, but opted to not rock the boat. The most obvious thing you'll notice, dear reader, is an About Me section. I'm blessed to not just have my mom and friends reading my ramblings. (I have no clue why, but thanks.) As I interact with strangers--and people stumble onto my website for information--I decided it would be helpful to have more than just a one line bio to put a few things more in context. There's nothing worse than trying to read someone's blog for the first time and being blinded by tabs and links. So I'm keeping it simple. Just a brief background on my...umm, diverse...time on this planet. You'll find some of my race history along with what I have on tap for 2014 (soon). Time will tell what goes in that space (fingers crossed). As always, you can find me on Twitter, too, and comments go directly to my e-mail. I'm working on a possible e-mai...

I haven't written about triathlon lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been on the bike trainer in the basement (boy do I have some thoughts on that) or thinking about next (and the next) racing season. It's just been...not "on the back burner"...nothing much to report on. Bits and pieces that haven't been worth hammering together into a blog post. But I finally have something to get off my chest so I'll throw it out there and see if anybody has any insights. It may be one of those topics where I've reached the point that some of you are going to say "you need a coach--too complicated." Not gonna happen though, first of all. And I also think the information--or at least people already doing some version of what I'm going to describe--exists. I just don't know where to find it or how to connect with the folks using this method. I've thought about throwing something out there on some of the message boards, but wasn't re...

It's amazing what a world of difference the right librarian can make. If your kids hate storytime, don't necessarily blame your kids. Sometimes the storytime lady just sucks. Or--let me rephrase--put a better way...anybody willing to walk into a room full of 20 two year olds and perform and successfully get the attention of this especially wandering age group deserves a medal. I praise all of you in Youth Services for even making the attempt. But some librarians (and teachers) are better than others at completing the task with an A-level experience. (Somehow my son's preschool teacher has gotten him to know all his colors, letters, numbers, and to say "no thank you." Equally amazing.) Or maybe this is just a case of Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone? Leda and I usually pick the same morning every week to head to the public library for the hours before it's time to pick Cole up from school. She plays with the toys, we go to storytime, s...

I'll spare you the full history of misery during the last few days in our household. It's been pretty ugly. All 4 of us in various states of sick since Halloween. But my little wild boy is back in preschool and his normal obnoxious self. My princess of a daughter is still laying on the couch all whines and cuddles and not her normal trouble-making self. You knew neither of them was feeling well when they were well-behaved. An afternoon spent together--all 4 of us--together on the sofa was evidence of disease. We napped together and made it through entire movies without complaint or sibling outbreaks of violence. It was bliss. Peaceful. If only we had these quiet, nice children always! So instead of recounting the tale, I'll simply give you a few helpful hints. Call them suggestions for the newbies behind us about what to do when your young children come down with their first stomach bug. --First, no matter how much they ask for flavored, spicy crackers...DO NOT give it ...

The weather forecast said there was supposed to be a window of 0% chance rain around 4pm yesterday. The green on the radar was moving from south to north when you watched it and a patch of clear skies appeared to be moving into our area. But when 4pm rolled around, the forecast suddenly jumped to 55% chance of rain. But, by that time, the kids were already in costumes and we were going out no matter what. It was--considering the weather--an amazing time. The kids didn't mind the rain or getting wet. Cole asked to walk even. So we crossed the street and went over one block to where there are houses rather than condo/apartments. We weren't sure what to expect out of the little ones, so decided almost right away that we'd do one "full" block meaning up to the stop sign then back down. The kids were great though! They said "trick or treat" and "Happy Halloween" and "thank you" and took only a couple pieces from the bowl even when they w...