Sunday, December 9, 2012
When did my baby girl turn into this extraordinarily advanced whining cyborg?
My daughter has been kidnapped by aliens. I’m serious! I’m not sure where or when but at some point in time she was kidnapped by aliens, taken aboard the mother ship, and they either did something to her brain or they outright replaced her with this look-alike replica. I personally believe that they’ve replaced her with this replica. I can’t prove it but it looks exactly like her but acts nothing like she did! Out of nowhere my nice, sweet, innocent, wants to play with me all the time daughter turned into a whiny, complaining, lazy, can’t-be-in-the-same-room-with-me-for-more-than-two-minutes alien. I’ve watched this happen for over a decade to other kids and their families but until recently I had never experienced it firsthand. I …
Friday, December 9, 2011
Being an example is never easy.
Parenting is hard. There’s no question about that statement. It is difficult. There are so many things to think about, guard against, and strive for that at times it can be overwhelming. I watched a news report a few weeks ago about one more thing to worry about. It was on KPHO Channel 5 in Arizona and it reported that teens have been using vodka soaked tampons to get drunk during school. Both boys and girls are inserting them to get a quicker buzz without getting caught drinking. The danger is that the alcohol does not go through the liver but straight to the blood stream. If a person has too much alcohol they would just black out instead of puking it up. That may be an extreme example but teens are doing some pretty dangerous things …
Friday, October 28, 2011
How do you talk to your children about sexuality and responsible behavior?
I remember my dad came walking into my room and said, “Son, we need to have a talk.” I mentally ran through the last several days to make sure that I hadn’t done anything stupid. It took more than just a few seconds, but I reluctantly replied, “Ok.” We were soon in the family station wagon driving to destinations unknown. I recall being very nervous about whatever was going to happen and putting my brain into overdrive to find a reason for such an unusual turn of events. It was a Saturday, and I had planned to hop on my bike (16 was still years away), head over to my best friend’s house and waste the day doing dumb boy stuff. Instead, I found myself sitting in the front seat of the car, driving down country roads, just my dad and me. When …
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Patch's new columnist reflects on high school before her senior year.
Oh, no. Walmart has new mass quantities of folders, binders and glue sticks. Malls are getting flocked by preteens and their tax free sale-hungry mothers. Bus drivers are testing out their new subdivision routes. It can mean either one of two things: the apocalypse is nearing and everyone is stocking up and planning their plot to escape, or it is back-to-school time. Back-to-school means the end of summer, the start of new and interesting classes and ending up with a surplus of school supplies you thought you would need, but never really do. But this year is a bit different for me, because it’s not just the start of any year, it’s senior year. Instead of my freshman year worries of opening my locker and getting to the right class, I now …
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Middle-schooler is moving on up to high school.
We’ve reached the end of an era in our house. My stepson is moving on from the world of middle school and organized sports, and on to high school. J has grown up playing little league baseball and various versions of organized basketball, and this past week he played in his final little league game. He is 15, so to say “little league” sounds a bit odd anyway, but looking toward his freshman year of high school, he already has so much on his plate that playing fall baseball isn’t even an option. I asked him how it made him feel, and he replied like a typical 15 year old would — “kinda sad.” So young and already a man of few words. Of course he will try out for freshman basketball and baseball, but the reality is that these days there are so…
Friday, July 22, 2011
Practice what you preach.
It was scorching hot outside, the kind of heat that causes me to sweat as soon as I walk outside. I was tired, sweaty and hungry. Before I continue, I must confess something to you: I am not a perfect parent. I make mistakes all the time, and I will continue to make them. Sometimes I feel like a horrible dad. I was pushing a stroller with a screaming 2-year-old, who was also sweaty and tired, and I had had enough. We were in some little T-shirt store on the strip at Lake of the Ozarks, and I wasn’t going to be that parent with a screaming child who didn’t do anything. Unfortunately, I let my temper get the best of me. I didn’t spank or yell at my child, but I did pick him up and storm out of the store. My plan was to walk back to the …
Friday, July 15, 2011
The teens are undercover angels, says our columnist.
She looked us in the eyes and said, “You are all our angels.” After choking back tears I struggled to say thank you. Her name is Dorothy Poe and everyone calls her Dot. The only reason I know this is because I am in Joplin with a group of 26 teenagers and 9 adults serving her and others in this ravaged city. We were standing in what was once her kitchen and looking at the tiny area where three adults and one large dog huddled in a bathroom closet as the tornado ripped down everything but that closet they were in. Those walls collapse when they eventually walked out unharmed. Most of the time, these young men and women get a bad rap. Lazy, irresponsible, know it all’s are a few labels that they carry. It’s not any different than when we …
