Last week, we had the exciting privilege of taking our 4-year-old daughter, Lyndsy, to her new school and getting her registered for kindergarten. She will be going to Plat Elementary School next fall, and we were given a tour of the school when we registered. Plat is an awesome “country” school, complete with a playground with woods nearby, hardwood floors inside and REAL chalkboards (the green ones).

As we were filling out Lyndsy’s registration paperwork, we were somewhat thrown by one of the questions that was asked. It read, “Please list your child’s strengths”. My wife and I looked at each other and sort of chuckled. I guess we could have listed things like “She’s colors in the lines pretty well”, or “She can rip a pretty mean fart” or “She usually eats all of her waffles”. I mean honestly, she is only 4 years old, and we’re not really sure what her strengths are yet.

We did end up putting down that she is very organized, and that she shows a lot of empathy to others. We also listed a couple other qualities we see as her “strengths”. It’s interesting that it took this school registration form for us to consider what our daughter’s strengths were at her young age. I have to admit that it sort of made me feel like a bad parent since I hadn’t considered that before. Oh well, I guess that is what parenting is all about.

And I sure hope what we perceive as our daughters strengths today stick with her as she goes through the rest of her life. My guess is that they will, because in her Dad’s eyes, she is the world’s most perfect daughter.

G’Night G’Town!

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.  ~Stacia Tauscher

Years ago, before my wife Steph and I had kids, we had a running joke with our friends Tim and Debbie. Tim and Debbie shared a mutual “dislike” for crying and screaming babies with us. When we were out-on-the-town, we’d joke amongst ourselves that “They are playing our song” whenever we heard a crying baby.

Well, years later, Tim and Debbie are now the proud parents of their two boys, Joey and Michael, and Steph and I have our little beauties, Buck and Lyndsy. While having kids of your own certainly puts screaming and crying kids into perspective, I’d be lying if I said the noise of a whining kid has gotten any easier for me. Well, I guess it has a little, but crying to me is as bad as hearing fingernails scratched on a chalkboard.

Which brings me to our son Buck…bless his over rambunctious little self. You see, Buck has been quite the whiner since the day he was born. Don’t get me wrong or anything, Steph and I love him to death, but he literally hasn’t stopped crying in his three years on this planet! He was very colicky as an infant, and is just plainly a “cry-baby” now as a toddler. We’ve tried all the tricks to break his habits of whining, but not many work for long, so we simply give him our love and accept him for who he is.

Okay, I’m probably being a little harsh on the boy, as he doesn’t cry all the time. However, the poor little fella' came down with the flu this past weekend, and hasn’t stopped crying or whining for 6 days straight. Steph and I are doing our best to give each other breaks from his persistent wailing, but honestly, it’s been a long week. Luckily, it appears he is at the tail end of it, and we’ll soon have our little bundle of joy back.

Oops, got to run now, I think I hear them playing our song!

G’Night G’Town!

The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.  ~John Vance Cheney