Columbus is a Winter Wonderland

We were in Columbus this past weekend to celebrate Grandpa's birthday and it was the boys who got the gift--over two feet of snow! Not long after we arrived they were putting on their layers and heading out into the yard with Daddy, Grandpa and Uncle Nate.

The area received over two feet of snow, compared to our maybe 6-8 inches. It was quite a sight and the boys were in heaven. Even though it was good "packing" snow, it wouldn't roll (that's what they told me). So instead they built forts and had a great time wrestling in the snow.

The snow was so wet you could pick it up in huge clumps and launch it. Here is Louie taking a shot at Grandpa.

Grandpa and the boys

This doesn't accurately depict all the snow they had, but it was the best I could get.

Group shot before the snowball fight began

Grandma and Meredith (and Mommy!) enjoying the warm indoors.

They built two forts and had a snowball fight. Louie decided to risk getting pelted in order to get up close to fire on Daddy.

Kevin was wondering why he was so sore the next day...he was tackling out in the snow worse than the boys.

Charlie trying to love on his sister (He was the first one done with the snow.)

Singing Happy Birthday

Aunt Jill & Meredith

Sunday morning--beautiful sunny day shining on the sparkly snow

The Kids' Newest Cousin

His name is Zissou, and he was born on November 17th.

He's an Old English Sheepdog, and couldn't be any cuter.

Their first family photo.

He's a pretty good size now, but he'll end up at 115 lbs.

That's a lot of fur.

A Rant

I heard on the radio this morning about a kid who has given a verbal commitment to be USC's quarterback. The reason this is making news: the kid is in seventh grade. He's thirteen! Not only that, but he has a personal coach who says this kid will be better than any of today's quarterbacks, including USC's current QB Matt Barkley, whom the coach also "mentored."

As a sports fan who also is a mom, I'd love for my kids to have the opportunity to play collegiate sports. But does it have to be a business? Because obviously, USC is trying to get their claws into him years before other D1 schools have a chance. College sports--in particular, football and basketball--have gotten to the point where there's about as much pressure as there would be if he was playing professional ball.

Growing up--going through puberty, making friends, doing well in your classes, enjoying this time in your life--these are all major issues for a teenager. But all that has been robbed from him because his parents and this football coach thought it was a good idea for him to be put in the limelight before it is reasonably time for it. Yeah, sure, the kid is probably enjoying it right now. He has been put in a class of people that kids strive to for. I cannot tell you how many journals I read as a high school teacher where the boys were dead-set on becoming a professional athlete. No other goals did they have other than making it in the NFL, NBA or MLB. One out of every 16,000 athletes gets to go pro, and I'd say that about 90% of the male students I had believe they had a real chance of making it. (Don't hold me to the numbers; I can't even tell time.) I'm not saying it's not good to have dreams, have goals, but there's more ways of being successful other than just by becoming a nationally-known athlete.

I'm not mad at the kid. He's not at fault. He has it made. He's going to get his college education paid for at a great school while playing a sport he obviously loves and be put in a situation where he can showcase his talents for the world to see. I guess I just can't see how a parent can put their child in that situation. The world of adults is not an easy one. The schedules, the expectations, the amount of people who depend on you when you are in a position like that, I can't imagine doing that to my son.

I envision the next five years of his life as being pretty rough. I can see rival teams being motivated to see what this kid is all about, what makes him so special. Are people really being his friend because they genuinely like him, or just want to be associated with someone who's on a privileged track? Is he constantly going to worry about whether or not he'll have an injury that will affect his ability to play? Does he focus on his school work, because does he really have to? I don't know this kid's story. Maybe he has the wherewithal at thirteen to know that an education is still important even though he's playing football.

But what I can't get over is a parent being ok with not letting a kid be a kid. I'm not sure why I'm surprised. You see it all the time with parents who want their kids to be actors, models, singers, etc. There are the stories in sports, too.

Now that my boys are on teams it's getting more real for me. You have the parents who get their kids into camps, strength-training programs and personal trainers--all at the ripe-old age of five. Kids play every sport under the sun, sometimes two and three different activities at the same time. Yes, sports are fun, and I personally believe that I learned things on a court/field that I couldn't have learned elsewhere. However, I also know that it was only one part of my growing up, and I would like the same for my kids.

We live in a sports-loving society, where top players are stalked by the paparazzi as much as movie stars are. People who would be just the same as you and me are not because they have a fantastic arm or they run as fast as a cheetah. I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter where sports take my kids, I hope that they enjoy them as much as they can, and understand that being a good person is more important than being a good quarterback.

The Power of Guilt

Last night the boys went to bed fairly easily, save for one little boy named Benny. It wasn't too surprising, in that after we got home from picking Louie up from school they all played baseball in the backyard for about an hour. The temperature had risen ten degrees or so and it hadn't been wet in a while, so we were all eager for them to be outside!

Lou crashed shortly after his head hit the pillow; Charlie put up somewhat of a fight; but Ben, he was not going down, no matter what. The thing with Benny is that he's the only one who asks to go to bed. He runs himself until the battery is just about gone and then needs to recharge. Knowing this, I still didn't want to start any bad habits, like If I beg Mommy and Daddy long enough, I don't have to do what they say! Charlie is one that we've had to keep putting in bed, not making eye contact, not saying anything, about thirty times in one night (a la Super Nanny).

I tried to do this last night with Ben, and I probably could have kept it up except that he stopped saying I don't wanna go to bed! to I want my Mommy!! After screaming this on a couple of the trips I carried him to bed I gave in. It broke my heart. How much longer is this kid going to actually want me? He wasn't fighting the sleeping as much as he was fighting wanting to be with me. I had some things I needed to do, but I could take a few minutes to lie down with him, rub on his back, and hope that is all he needed to drift off to sleep.

This was not the case. I found my eyes getting heavy and was going to get up when I opened my eyes and there he was staring at me. I decided to pull my old babysitter trick: I'll come back and check on you in 20 minutes and then if you're still awake you can get up. This kid is one determined little booger. He was awake and walking down the steps about 10 minutes later. It was then that I decided that he just took too long of a nap and the situation wasn't getting solved by forcing him to lie down when he wasn't ready.

However, I had a terrible night of sleep the night before and I was ready for bed. Kevin was working in the basement, so I had Benny get his slippers on, grabbed a stool and brought him down to the basement. He sat there and talked with Kevin while he worked.

Later, when Kevin came to bed he said that a little while after Ben came down he decided that he was sleepy and put himself to bed. Apparently, Benny must have told Kevin that he really, really wanted to sleep in our bed. When Kevin asked why Ben told him that a long time ago when he was three and the "long" Grandma and Uncle Nate was watching him there was a wind storm and Grandma let him and Charlie sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed and he liked it better.

He wasn't making this up. He is talking about the storm two falls ago when Kevin and I went to the Bengals game and it got so bad that the power went out for a week. Never doubt a kid's memory, that's for sure! As for why he prefers our bed over his, I'm not sure. But I do remember feeling the same way about my parents' bed when I was a kid.

More Pictures of Grandpa

Labor Day Picnic -
September 7, 2009

Three of my Favorite Ladies

This is my good friend Katie, along with her Grandma and Meredith, taken a couple of days before Christmas. I first met her wonderful grandmother when I rode out to California with her (after just finding out I was pregnant with Lou!) so that she could go to grad school. It was a wonderful experience and made even better by the fact that we got to spend time with her grandma in San Diego! I have not seen her in six years--how time changes things!

Tomorrow She is Eight Months Old!