Dad's Summer Reading Program

We have one avid reader (the 10-year-old) and one who reads in discouragingly short bursts (the 6-year-old).  Immediately following a trip to the library, he reads with a high degree of absorption.  His usual habit is then to declare himself finished with at least one of the books he just got before it seems possible that he could have finished it.  He also gets really excited about a series of books (e.g. Magic Treehouse) for about 2 1/2 books.  I tend to find out that he "doesn't like those anymore" upon bringing home a stack of four of whatever series it was from the library.

All this is to say that I did not think that our library's summer reading program would be enough

to get him interested in reading this summer.  I have decided, therefore, to supplement it with Dad's Summer Reading Program.  The boys found at their places this morning four coupons, two of which are picture at the right.  They can choose whatever order in which they redeem these coupons for rewards valued at under five dollars.  They just have to show me their reading logs when they've reached a milestone (10 books per reward for the younger and 15 books per reward for He Who Would Read No Matter What).

We'll see how it works.  The younger complained that 10 books was too many at the same time that he planned the order in which he would redeem all four of his coupons.  The older chose one that he would redeem first then said "Maybe I'll read 75 books [15 more than the sum of all his incentive milestones] and get a five-pack of cars."  While I appreciate both his ambition and his confidence that he could negotiate terms completely different from those offered in writing, I think I'll stick to my original plan.

Watch this space for updates.

Sunday Haiku: Summer Pests

The kitchen smells like
Raid.  Ants in the cupcakes won't
be tolerated.

Media Review Doubleheader: If This is 40, Bring on 50

Armed with a free RedBox rental coupon from the grocery store courtesy of Kellogg's (wha huh?), we sought out a movie the other weekend.  Having read the quite enjoyable 2012 comedy issue of Vanity Fair - edited by Judd Apatow and heavy on his sensibility - and having enjoyed Paul Rudd just about every time we've seen him, we chose Apatow's This is 40.

It may be that they shortened the title from This is a Version of 40 That is so Bleak and Depressing we Can't Remember Why we Made a Movie About It or Where we Left our Souls.  Or they should have.  The trailer features the laugh-y parts, but in reality, this sort-of-sequel to Knocked Up portrays depressing people completely incapable of being honest with themselves or others.  The first twenty five minutes were so bleak that we paused it and asked each other if we should go on.  There would indeed be something to laugh at every five minutes or so.  We told each other that if the characters could make real changes deep inside themselves that the movie would be a good redemption story.  Spoiler alert: it doesn't happen.  They blame everything and everyone else for their problems.  They're horrendous parents.  At the end, my competent wife asked "Do you think Judd Apatow really hates his life?"  Casting his wife as a horrible person married to a horrible person makes this a very viable question.

On the other hand, we've bored everyone we could raving about an obscure drama/comedy that lived a too-short two seasons and is now on DVD.  Men of a Certain Age, an original hour-long show from TNT (yup, that TNT) stars Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and my long-term man crush Andre Braugher.  I know!  Ray Romano!  Whodathunkit?  They portray three guys nearing 50 who went to college together and are still friends.  One's going through a separation, one's married, one is single and, um, busy romantically.  One has little kids, one has teenagers and one has no kids.  One has big daddy issues, one battles an addiction and one has to confront the knife edge of following creative dreams versus having enough to live on.  The show portrays real male friendship featuring real give-and-take and accountability.  They call each other on their sugar honey iced tea.  It's dramatic but also deeply funny.  We got attached to the characters and plot very quickly.

If you think you know Romano from Everybody Loves Raymond, Andre Braugher from Homicide or Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap, think again.  Spend 26 hours with these episodes and you'll see whole different sides of all three actors.  Despite all of the good TV out there, there's still not enough real, moving drama on television.  Do yourself a solid and check out these two seasons.

  

Pirates Pessimists

So far, the fool-me-once (or 20 times) Forsters have proven to be quite pessimistic about the Pirates prospects this season.  The battlin' Bucs are 23-17 through twenty games, which would project to 93 big wins this year.  Charlie's closest at the season's rough one quarter milestone, but he's even seven games under.

All I can say is that I hope we continue to be this wrong in the same direction. 

Pro: Choice.

This NPR story about stay-at-home dads starts with a familiar framework for SAHD stories: Biff was a highly successful investment banker/neurosurgeon/forklift operator who didn't even know the names of his own children...until he lost his job.  Now, he's a happy stay-at-home dad.

That paragraph may have been stuck in cynical font, but there is a certain strain of SAHD stories that (while not quite that cartoonish) feature that premise.  Those stories make me deeply happy that I chose my part-time work arrangement and that I chose the role of primary parent for my kids.  For one, it makes me feel like I'm smart for making such a satisfying life decision without having to bumble into the enlightenment that it's really better for everyone involved to have one of us work less and earn less but be around more.  Secondly, though, on the hard days with this lifestyle, it's bracing to know that I chose this.  That this arrangement wasn't foisted on me by some outside force or circumstance.  When I want to blame someone else (because I'm frozen out of an important decision at the office because I work part time or because I'm facing menu planning fatigue at home), it's actually better that my bedrock is: I proposed and have executed my portion of this family work/life balance arrangement.  Whatever slings and arrows I face because of it come along with the stronger parenting and semblance of serenity that working less for pay affords.

It also helps me seize positive opportunities when they arise.  Today, when Teddy got off the bus and asked to go to the park and work on his fielding, I quickly did the math:

• Do you have any homework?  No
• Do I have intensive dinner prep work to do tonight?  No (Thanks, Peppi's!)
• Did I cut my salary in half so that when my kid wants to improve his fielding, I can say yes and grab a bat and some baseballs?  Why, yes.  Yes, I did.

Four-and-a-half years into it, I wouldn't change this decision.  If I regret it in moments, I regret it rarely for whole days and never for as long as a week.  As a veteran part-time working mom said when I was mulling the decision: "You won't look back in thirty years and say 'I wish I hadn't missed that meeting.'"

Little League Dreams - in Parallel

LIttle League Dreams - in Parallel
an original poem

OK.  This is it.                                              OK. This is it.
Last inning.  We're down one.                        It's 4:45.  We're so busy.
Two outs.  Two men on.                                Game scheduled tonight.
Their best pitcher.                                        No other open nights this week.
It feels like everything hangs in the balance.  It feels like everything hangs in the balance.
Bend the knees.  Line up the knuckles.          Check my texts.  See if there's an email.
Back elbow up.  Can't drop the hands.            Send this work email. Don't think about it.
I've never faced this pitcher before.              He hasn't played in this age group before.
Don't know what he's got.                              Don't know who makes the decisions.
First pitch.  Ball. Pitcher's nervous, too.         Check my texts.  Nothing.
Whoosh!  Here goes nothing.                         BUZZ.  Wait.  What's this?
Oh baby.  I nailed it.                                     I dare not hope.
It could be.  It might be.                               It could be.  It might be.
HOME RUN!                                                  RAIN OUT!

Chart: 2013 Pirate Win Predictions

With one loss in the books, we make our Pirate win predictions.  Paige was spot on at 79 in last year's predictions.  We'll see who ends up being most accurate this year.  We all hope it's Charlie.

Because I can't get data labels to work on the computer I'm using for this post:
Charlie, 86
Paige, 82
2012 Wins, 79
Teddy, 78
Jeff, 76