All posts by Algonad

Parentgood

Mistakes (I’ve Made a Few)

30 Comments

D'oh!

As a parent, I've made my share of mistakes.  My most common mistake is the "over threaten."  And it happens way too often.  I have one particular example in mind.

My middle child (10 year old girl) had a friend over.  Youngest child (6 year old boy) was bothering her and said friend.  Things escalated and she crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed.  The real problem started when she refused to apologize.  (I really need to figure out how she can be so stubborn.  Where could that possibly come from?)  Whatever I was trying was not working.  I finally said that if she didn't apologize, she was going to her room for the rest of the day.  (I think it was around 3pm.)  She still wouldn't apologize.

I was stuck.  Not only was a I sending a kid to her room for 5 hours but it was the exact wrong punishment.  This is the kid that heads upstairs to her bedroom while the rest of the family is on the main level of the house.  This is the kid that I need to occasionally push to be a little more social.  This is the kid that read the entire Harry Potter series in four months.

Not only that, but after she spent an hour or so up in her room, I had a talk with her.  She was having some friend/confidence issues and that was the real reason for the lashing out at her brother.

I was faced with a dilemma.  Do I stick to my original punishment and leave her in her room for the rest of the night, or do I admit that it was too harsh of a punishment and let her out early?

I ended up letting her out of her room for dinner and allowed her to stay out for the remainder of  the evening.  What she really needed was some time with her family.  I know the best solution would be to not over threaten in the first place.  I also know it is good to stick with punishments that have been levied.  I just know once I've had a chance to really think things through I often come up with a much better solution.  I don't think it makes sense to double down on my own mistake.

What do the fathers (and mother) have to say?

First Monday Book Day

Paterno by Poz

27 Comments

I told BrianS I would pick up the book day post.  The wife and kids are out of town for the weekend so I figured I could fit this in between cleaning the garage, raking leaves, trimming bushes, trimming trees, etc.

I recently finished "Paterno" by Joe Posnanski.  I'm not a big college football fan.  I'm not a big non-fiction fan.  I am a big Posnanski fan although I was disappointed in both of his first two books.  This book had an uphill battle to win me over.

I wasn't really sure how this Paterno book would go.  Poz works best when he is telling feel-good stories and I think he made it pretty apparent that he was a Paterno fan-boy.  He didn't sign up to write this kind of story.

Despite the challenges, Poz did a great job with this book.  It starts out a little slow with Paterno's Brooklyn upbringing.  But that focus on his upbringing, and the emphasis on doing something special, helps us not only to understand his achievements but also his shortcomings.

In the end, I didn't feel hatred towards Paterno.  I felt disappointed.  I felt he was deeply flawed.  I also felt that he did really want to do good things with his life.  Somewhere along the line, I think Coach Paterno took over and Joe Paterno no longer existed.  The best line in the book was this one - "It is hard for any man, even a plainspoken Brooklyn kid determined never to lose his bearings, to hold on to what matters when people start to see him as a saint."

So, what are you reading?

 

 

WGOM Videos

Wilco – Late Greats

Video 12 Comments

Here is my Wilco story: I was working in the NW suburbs of Chicago in 1997.  Being There was my favorite album at the time.  I listened to a little indie radio station called WCBR - The Bear.  They announced that Wilco would be playing Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.  I think this is the only place that advertised the show.  My wife and I got tickets.  We get to the college and the venue is basically a big lecture hall.  I was sitting in the 4th row right next to Tweedy's wife who was holding their then 2-year old son wearing big ear protection.  Tweedy walks out and the first thing he does is says, "We're playing a f'n classroom?!"

The show was great.  It felt like we were sitting in the band's living room.  They took requests from the crowd and, at one point in the show, Tweedy came and grabbed his fussy son and sat him on his lap.

This is the song that I thought would make them stars.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th8NpM6JTSw&ob=av3n

7 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 107 votes, average: 8.57 out of 10 (7 votes, average: 8.57 out of 10)
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WGOM Videos

Ben Kweller – Penny on the Train Track

Video 1 Comment

It's Algonad week!  The best week of the year!!!!

I have to admit it, I don't understand the music industry.  I primarily listen to rock/pop.  It can have a little country flavor or a little bit of soul, but it is primarily rock.  There are a lot of songs out there where I just can't understand why they aren't mainstream hits.

I decided to make that my theme for the week.  These aren't exactly underground songs but they are songs that don't get as much mainstream love as I would think that they should get.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVsBmyp5tUo

5 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 105 votes, average: 7.40 out of 10 (5 votes, average: 7.40 out of 10)
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Parentgood

Father Knows Best: Kids Books

75 Comments

Either my wife or I have read childrenʼs books nearly every night for the past ten years. The last four or five years have been more interesting as weʼve gotten into the chapter books read over multiple nights and not just repeated readings of Dr. Seuss or Berenstein Bears.

We do not read to them because we are convinced it will make them smarter or anything like that. The kids just really enjoy it and it is a nice transition for them from the activity of everyday life to sleep.

This will focus primarily on books that are good for five-to-ten year old kids since that is what I have been reading the past few years. I am not saying this is great literature or worthy of any awards (although some of it is). They are just enjoyable childrenʼs books and some of them do have some things the kids can learn from them.

Anyway, here it goes. There will be spoilers in each review as you may want to know how they end to decide if it is appropriate for your child.

Continue reading Father Knows Best: Kids Books →