Raising Eli & Zachary

I always watched other parents in amazement. Gymnastics on Monday, swim Tuesday, Boy Scouts on Wednesday, Karate on Thursday and T-Ball on Saturday, and that is just for one kid. Imagine now you have multiple kids and unless they are all doing the same things (unlikely) and they are all the same age (more unlikely) then you have to double up the schedule. This has never been a problem until now for me because Zachary is still young enough to where his activities are not so well rounded but Eli is a different story.

Eli now has swim, T-ball and is joining Cub Scouts. With T-Ball now encroaching the weekdays with games on Thursdays this leaves a lot of running around: Monday is swim, Wednesday is Boy Scouts, Thursday and Saturday are T-ball. Add make up games, Jodi’s hectic soccer schedule (practice on Monday and Friday nights) and weekend games there just isn’t enough time to sit and relax. Recently I have had to trim things out of my schedule like Masonry. Thursday nights used to be my meeting nights, now lodge is just a passing thought (a shame).

I want Zach to start taking swim also, that way he is comfortable around and in the water this summer. I need to speak to Jodi about that. I also want Eli to start playing soccer! I guess I have to wait until I am older to slow down a bit because it looks like I am going to moving at a faster pace over the next ten years!

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I grew up in a house where my dad would always make promises and never keep them. When it came to fishing, hunting, camping or well just about anything we planned would be usurped by watching Football, Hockey or some other reason. I could spend a week dreaming up the perfect outing, prepare all the equipment and tell all my friends, but the day of the event there was always an excuse.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t do that to Eli or Zachary and now I am. Eli has a school trip that I volunteered to be a chaperon for and now the day of I have to cancel. Not because I have a huge project at work (which I should never have taken the day off for anyway) but because Zachary is sick and has a virus. Jodi is saving her days so she can attend other important events like his graduation from Kindergarten. Meanwhile that does not help me feel like I am repeating the errors of my father.

When I say I am going to do something and make a commitment to my kids, I should follow through. In this situation my hands are tied. It really sucks for Eli because I see he is disappointed, and it really sucks for me because I am disappointed. I will have to make it up to Eli, but ya know what. My dad said that to me 1000 times while growing up. Sorry kid…I will make it up to you.

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Ok well superstar is a bit premature but heck a few years ago I always wondered if Eli would ever be able to participate in a team sport. We were encouraged to get Eli involved in an individual sport so we enrolled him in swimming (which has done a great job with) but soon Eli started asking about soccer and baseball.

Enrolling him in T-ball is just another lesson for parents with children who are on the spectrum. Although Eli has been declassified it was still a worry for us, but as always Eli has jumped at the chance and shown that he is more than capapble of holding his own socially, physically and mentally with all the other kids. In fact, Eli has been more social (I credit Ralph – his SEIT) and Eli’s own desire to have fun and enjoy himself.

So T-Ball started and Eli is doing great. He hits the ball well, catches the ball and can run the bases. You have to see him smile when he plays and it really makes me proud. Today we have a practice where the coaches (of which I am one) will try to get the kids to actually not run from center field to the pitchers mound each time the ball is hit. I equate it to bumblebee soccer. They all just want to be part of the game.

I have to download some pictures and post them. Too funny!

The lesson in this is simple: Never under estimate your child when it comes to social activities and sports. They might just surprise you and you never know if it can be the trigger they need socially.

(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

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At the bus stop today Eli and I were having a conversation on what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. He asked me my theory and I explained how a giant rock from space came smashing through the atmosphere and hit the ground while traveling and 22,000+ MPH. I explained how this huge impact caused the sun to be blotted out by dust and how this lead to a chain reaction in which plant eating dinosaurs didn’t have any food and therefore died, and because of that the meat eating dinosaurs died. I explained how a large percentage of life on the planet died around the same time.

Eli stopped, looked at me like I was freaking the craziest SOB on the planet and said, “YOU’RE WRONG”. I looked back at him like had two heads and said, “Oh yea? How did they die”. He looked at me, stared me down and said…lava dad….they died because of the lava”

I chuckled and he said, “Dad, my friend in class told me that Lava killed the dinosaurs and I think he would know better than you. He is almost six, and you are 38. His brain is growing and your brain is shrinking because your old”

My response was to stick out my tongue and call him a poopie head. I don’t think I won.

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Eli and I were going to camp out tonight in the living room. We broke out two tents, blankets, flashlights and pillows. I setup the star machine and laid down.

A few games later Eli was fast asleep although he had already transfered to my tent (which was more suited to a child then a six foot one 230 pound man).

I on the other hand was in some massive pain. My hip which was “repaired” on December 20th was screaming in pain.? I crawled out of the tent and laid on the sofa. In a few hours Eli will wake up and be very disappointed. EPIC FAIL!

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Eli was named the Student of the Month! Awesome! Now I can be one of those parents who put the magnet on the back of the car proclaiming that my kid is better then yours!

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Zachary has always been reaaly good with verbalizing but now he is really starting to throw some combos like “no more” and “more peees ” .

It is really cool to watch his development. He is going to be such a bruiser!

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Jump on top of you, turn their head, smile and then fart on you
Kiss you on the head instead of on the lips
Declare that you are getting too old to drive a car
Tell you that you are already starting to shrink

nuff said….Eli did all of these things to me. He also reminded me that I am about to turn 38 and it is really close to being 40. I am not sure if I am going to allow him to hit the teenage years much less six.

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By now I am sure everyone has either heard or played Angry Birds. If not, and you either have an android based phone, the iphone or an ipad it is a game worth playing and paying for. Eli has been watching both Jodi and I play for a few weeks showing no interest. He would rather be playing on the computer, his DS or boom blox on the Wii. So I was a bit taken back when he asked if he could play Angry Birds on my cell phone.

Now I can’t seem to keep my cell phone with me, and he is always asking to play. I found him going potty this morning playing Angry Birds. My cell phone battery is not going to survive this. Argh!

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Ever have one of those days where you think that you want to create a bucket list? Each year as my birthday approaches I start to become depressed. I always ask myself what have I achieved in my life and compare it to where I thought I would be or where I would like to be. A few things come to mind and I admit that I am lucky and living a very good life, but still there are things I really just want to achieve.

My bucket list

Ride my motorcycle from New York to Arizona
Travel the Middle East (Israel, Jordan and Egypt)
Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef
Build a motorcycle from scratch
Learn to fold a sword and then make one with my own hands

Goals for my 38th year:

Be a positive force at work
Get the 1976 Honda restored
Ride my motorcycle a lot more than I did this year
Watch Eli play in his first baseball and Hockey game
Hug Eli and Zach at least 3 times a day and tell them I love them
Lower my debt
Be a good husband to Jodi
Take my family to Disneyworld
Complete a 100 mile road bike ride

Is that a lot to ask for one year?

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