Rain Fun.

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Test #2

It's like an abandoned Dahrma station in here.

May have found a good posting from phone system.

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Testing

This is a test.

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Graduation Day

My Big First Grader.

Yesterday, Philip had his last day of Kindergarten.  My Little Guy isn't so little anymore.  He grows and grows quickly.

There's been a core group of about five of us, parents, who live in the neighborhood and walk our kids to school.  We all got a little choked up as our kids came out and we realized that they were done, and next year our babies were gonna be in school, First Grade, full-time.

It's been a good year.  We all started off a bit scared and apprehensive about how the children would handle it.  

Phil's Server Tip of the Day.

To my customer on Saturday night who ordered a Patty Melt without the bread,

A Patty Melt with no bread isn't a Patty Melt.  It's just a patty with cheese.

Yours,

Server Phil

Morning Picture Project

My Daughter and I.

So I've had this beard for about a year and a half.  It's an alright beard.  The best I've ever grown.  I've been trying to grow a beard since I was old enough to grow hair on my chin.  It hasn't always been pretty.  But I've tried for acouple of reasons:

1.  I hate to shave.  Hate it.  Dragging a razor across my face once a day just isn't any fun for me.  
   
2. The wife likes it.  Don't ask me why.
3. I guess there's only two.

But this really isn't about my beard.

What I really want to know is, by having a beard, am I insuring my daughter will always go for guys with beards?

Morning Picture Project

Parental Philosophy: Questions and Answers.

There was recently a big brouhaha in Seattle about a lesbian couple being asked to stop kissing at a Mariner's game.  That's fine and all.  Public displays of affection, by anyone, depending on the degree, would make any of us want to throw up.  That isn't what struck me about the article.  What struck me was peoples quoted reaction to the scenario.

"I'd have to explain what's going on to my kids."

That's the reason some people gave when asked why they might have a problem with two women kissing in public.

To them I say, "That's the job.  You're parents."

One constant inquiry of my oldest is on the subject of death.  We drive by a number of cemeteries out here in the 'Burbs.  Philip will often comment, "That's Heaven.  Right, Daddy?"  Or, "That's where we go when we die.  Right, Daddy?"  I try to tell him that our soul goes up in the sky (I can't avoid my Catholic upbringing entirely) to heaven, and that the cemetery is where  we put your body after you die.  Not a great answer.  Not the only answer, but the best I can do.

I also don't avoid the answer, "I don't know."  This isn't much of an answer, but I want to encourage him to find the answers himself.  These answers can often be found in books.  Books contain the whole knowledge that we have accumulated as humans.  If you have a question and no answer there is a good chance a book will have the answer you seek.

I haven't figured it all out, but it seems that avoiding subjects, within reason of course, is the wrong choice to make as a parent.

Morning Picture Project

It's so hot and humid now, seating, without moving, you still sweat.

Sepia makes everyone look good.

Uncle Herbie, Patrick and Mary, Codename:  Chubby Cheeks.

Morning Picture Project

Morning Picture Project #3 (Or, Does Phil really wear that hat every day?)

Mary was unavailable for this session as she was napping.

The answer to the above question is, yes.

Morning Picture Project #2

Morning picture Project

They grow up so fast.  I'll take a picture everyday.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom's!!

I should, at least, put some pics of the kids up...

Cute? Ain't they?

Now look that way!!

What's In Your Diaper Bag?

When I first became a parent I used to tell people who asked that running errands with a child was like going camping. You have a backpack, and/or car, full of stuff you may, or may not, need. Food, change of clothes, cleaning supplies, drinks, a stroller, toys, books, etc. That was when I had one kid. Now that I have three, I can't believe I ever thought one kid kept me "busy."

On Mon., Wed., and Fri. Patrick has class at the YMCA from 9-11 am. On Tues. and Thurs. Philip has a class at the same YMCA from 930-1130 am. Mon. through Fri. Philip has kindergarten from 1215-300 pm. All these classes at different times, in different buildings around town makes me feel like I'm in college again, but while camping.

On Wed. Patrick swims so he needs swim trunks and a towel. On Fri. he ice skates and needs extra layers of clothes and a helmet. Philip swims on both Tues. and Thurs. Between the classes at the Y and kindergarten we eat lunch. During the classes, the baby needs a bottle.

These days it feels like I'm going on an extended camping trip, while attending college, with three kids under the age of 6.

We try to pack as many supplies as we can from home so we don't have to buy food while out and about. We've done a pretty good job. Our kids don't beg for snacks or candy from the vending machine. Whenever they have asked I've always been able to pull something healthier from our diaper bag. It's a good system and I always feel good when I see another kid with a bag of Funyuns for lunch.

Contents of diaper bag on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Supplies.

1. Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
2. Tuber ware of plain cheerio's.
3. Tuber ware of string cheese, cereal bars (without high fructose corn syrup)
4. Diapers.
5. Wet wipes.
6. Two bottles of formula.
7. Two sippy-cups of 2% milk.

The Lunch.

Beverages. (Diet Pepsi not pictured.)

Off to school.

You know what else was alot easier when I only had one? Heck, when I had two even? I lived in Sherman Oaks, California where it rarely snowed. It's so cold today.

Seven Wonders Of Phil Hendricks...

The BlogMother, Flannery Alden of Prone to Whimsy has tagged me. I must answer the call.

Seven things about me you my not know.

1. I was a Boy Scout for five years and achieved the rank of First Class. I liked Boy Scouts despite the cliche jokes their mention inspires. The best things Boy Scouts ever taught me was the Buddy System. Don't go anywhere without someone to go with you.
2. I used to have a spot of red hair behind my right ear. As a kid, I would proudly show it off to anyone I could. Now it is white.
3. My Grandfathers older brothers were the leaders of a west side Chicago gang in the '20's and '30's. In 1927 they were at war with Al Capone as he expanded his organization outward. The reports differ wether Capone was there or not, but one night he put a hit out on them. The gun fight that followed lead to the death of a Chicago District Attorney who was out drinking with my great uncles. (Wildly inaccurate Wikipedia entry.)
4. I love Diet Pepsi, and I'm thoroughly convinced that it has addictive properties. I drink about 10 cans a day.
5. I've never broken any bones. Must be something about my family because my brothers never have either.
6. I've been in the live audience of the Bozo show twice, but never got chosen for the Grand Prize Game.
7. I used to live in Bellwood, Illinois. Bellwood is known for it's huge land fill that recently was filled completely and for being the boyhood home of the last man to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan.
   

Gay, You Say...

So, J.K. Rowling came out this weekend at a fan convention and stated that Albus Dumbledore was gay.

Dave, over at BadArt has a good post on the subject.

I have a couple of thoughts on the subject:

1. I think it's debatable. Sure, she's the writer, and she created him, so it's largely her call. But she didn't include it in the text, so as the reader, I can make up whatever I want. I made this point over at Badart, if J.D. Salinger came out today and said Holden Caulfield's problems came from him being a closeted homosexual, I think that would be debated.

I've disagreed with artists on their own work before. George Lucas altered a moment in Star Wars 'A New Hope,' when, in the re-release, he had Han Solo firing second, in response to Greedo firing first, in the cantina scene. The original has Solo firing first, under the table, killing Greedo before he has a chance to fire. He stated that he never thought Solo would fire first, that was to cold-blooded for a character like Han Solo. First, Lucas contradicts himself within the movie. Han Solo plans to shoot down a Tie-Fight later, when the pilot has not fired on him. Second, he diminishes Solo's journey from scoundrel pirate to self sacrificing hero, betraying himself as an artist who may not understand his own work.

2. The actor playing Dumbledore has only now been given this information.

"In fact, recently I was in a script read through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying I knew a girl once, whose hair... [laughter]. I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, "Dumbledore's gay!"

An actor can waste alot of time trying to figure out what history a writer was thinking about for the character they are playing. I say waste because you can often never know. The actor must choose for themselves, and the best actors create a strong back story for themselves. What the writer intended may not always elicite the strongest performance from an actor. They change it to suit their performance. Sometimes this is called, personalizing your character. If Dumbledore being gay helps? Great, use it. If not, throw it out. At this point, other than specific script stuff, I'm not sure it matters at all to the actor who will play him.

3. If Dumbledore being gay is important, than why leave it out? Obviously, it would hurt books sales. Or, probably it wouldn't. But it would have created controversy, and maybe she just didn't want to deal with it. Anyway, she left it out, despite it's seeming importance. She has avoided a controversy, but she has also avoided the potential for making a rather significant, positive cultural impact. I fear that this indicates a weakness in her writing.

I believe that Sci-Fi and Fantasy can inform, influence, describe and positively affect us, just as any art form can. I'm pretty sure, the first interracial television kiss was on Star Trek. This had an impact, forcing viewers to think about the subject. The recent Marvel Comics story line, Civil War, which some of you may have heard of, led to the death of Captain America and the permanent unmasking of Spiderman. What I found most exciting , and enjoyed best, about the series is it examination of our post 9/11 world.

(Quickly, a fight between super people leads to an explosion and the death of over 600, normal men, women and children. This begins a movement to get superpeople to register with the government or be classified as illegal vigilantes, thrown in a prison outside the U.S., without trial.)

Civil War wasn't a unique idea, but given my description above and moments like Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) placing an elongated hand on Iron Man shoulder and imploring him to, 'Stay the course,' it's comparisons and similarities to our current situation here and abroad is undeniable. And you know who is reading these comics, besides 33 year-old guys like me? Kids. Kids of all ages. Civil War takes a real, horrifying thing like 9/11 and the war in Iraq and places it into a form a child can access. Think about. Judge. Explore.

A book series as wildly popular as Harry Potter, creating and examining an openly gay character, could have introduced millions of children to the possibility that homosexuality isn't the plague it is sometimes made out to be. Those millions of kids would pass the book onto their children, as I will, and they would be given the opportunity to explore this subject.

It's to bad really. She's takes on classism, racism, death, murder, adolescence, adolescent sexuality, betrayal, the afterlife, school, the power of love and a few other worthy topics. Giving her young readers alot to mull over in their heads and chew on. It's unfortunate that she avoids this subject till it's to late to benefit them.

She may have sold less books, or gotten more crap from the extremists, but she also might have made an even bigger, more positive, difference by being brave enough to bring it up.

Parental Philosophy

Most parents I know walk around most of the time with an extreme inner conflict. A question they keep repeating, silently, to themselves, 'Am I doing the right thing?' In almost all criticism, deep down inside of the critic, this question persists. In most parents criticism of other parents this question is loudest.

I recently received two compliments that indicate we might be doing some things right.

As I was walking home after dropping Philip off at kindergarten, one of the mother's who has a son in his class noticed that I didn't have Patrick with me. The Wife is still on maternity leave, I had left him and Mary Kate home with her, I told her. She said we seemed like a good team. That was nice to hear. You can only put so much stock in the perception of others when it comes to your marriage and the raising of your children, but it still made me mildly proud. We are a good team. We work at it and I'm glad it shows.

The second compliment came from another mother, later that week, with a girl in Philip's class. She had worked the class as a volunteer assistant. At the end of the day, she told me, Philip had come up to her and thanked her for coming and helping in class. I guess he was the only student to thank her. She wanted to let me know that I had a very polite son. This made me very proud. It's important to us that our children respect others and behave in a proper way around them. In my opinion, there is far to much inconsiderate behavior in all walks of life.

Like I said, ultimately, you keep you own counsel when it comes to raising your kids. Still though, I'm glad my son is picking up what we are laying down.

And now some pics of the baby.

Mary Katherine smiling in her sleep.

So, Mary Kate is doing well. She had had a horrifying diaper rash for a few weeks. It looks like someone had dragged her behind a car. Everything is better now. She's sleeping well, waking once, maybe twice, a night.

Kisses from big brother, Patrick.

The Boys continue to be attentive and gentle with Mary Kate. They can't wait to play with her. We caught Philip the other day holding her properly, just like we showed him. The problem was, he had picked her up out of her basket, carried her to the couch himself. Without supervision. Without asking us. She was fine, but she's still alittle fragile to be picked up by Philip. Still, no harm. No foul.