I never had an allowance when I was a kid. Chores were treated as pilgrimatic (is that even a word?) – you know, no work, no eat? Prior to 10 years old, if I needed to earn money Dad made a list of “extra” chores over and above the usual chores and assigned a value [...]

My 9-year old is scaring me. Not only is she teaching herself to use GIMP and creating 3-D animated movies, she’s starting to check out my blogs. Which means she could very well find her way to a nearly dormant blog with completely inappropriate content. Today, she saw the license-plate in the sidebar and popped [...]

Still in Exile, my observations about Huntsville, AL written shortly after moving there, has been republished here.

Last week, my 6-year old was being evil in church. Finally, I had enough and took her out of there (yes, I know she got what she wanted but it got to the point where she was physically injuring people next to her). The punishment was appropriate, and I also asked her to write a [...]

So, I get home from work last week, ready to discipline my oldest GIFTED student for deciding she wasn’t going to do math homework anymore. In an attempt to divert my attention, she started saying “You need to hear what [insert little sister's name] did at school.” I was not to be swayed. Discipline was [...]

We had a great day today. Your sixth birthday, and 18 little princesses showed up! But the best part for me occurred this morning, when it was just the two of us talking about what it means to be six years old. I tried to convince you that you are now a “Big Girl”, but [...]

I guess I will need to start monitoring my daughter’s internet activity. She’s only 8 years old, for chrissakes, I’d hoped I could put it off for a few years, but I think she’s been visiting inappropriate sites: I think she’s been checking out Sculpy-snuff sites. How else do you explain this story she wrote [...]

Oh man, this is so cool – Send a letter from Santa to your child. We’ve got an 8-year old that is pretty sure about Santa, but still wants to hold onto the fantasy, and a 5-year old that still believes in the magic. A personal letter, postmarked from the North Pole, Alaska, would be [...]

Grandpa Picks Up Wrong Kid From School My in-laws pick the kids up from various functions all the time. I can’t imagine this ever happening. Is this guy blond, or just so out of touch with his grandchildren that he doesn’t even know them? Please Mom, get him to an eye doctor, then introduce him [...]

So, it’s been a few months, I think, since I wrote about church. Don’t worry this isn’t about religion. There is a difference, you know. (Again, for those that don’t know my opinion on discussions of religion and God and whether he exists or not, allow me to tell you: It’s none of your business. [...]