Words of the Week

Here's to the end of 2009.

When life gives you lemons, make scrambled eggs. I make terrible scrambled eggs.

- Stephen Colbert

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone!

Old Wahoo thanks everybody for taking time to read the blog, and I'd like to thank all the guys who answered some questions for Another Father's Thoughts: Allan Barmak, John Richardson, John Clexton, David Meeks, Marcus LaPratt, Lacy Lusk, David Kazzie, Mike Ramsey, Ron Bernas and Steve Hetzler.

Old Wahoo vs. Old Man Winter

Winter arrived today, and Old Wahoo is ready for Old Man Winter. Lately, I've taken a passive-aggressive approach to the old, cold dude, but this year I vow to bring back my old short-wearing, fist-shaking, ice-defying ways. I can't stand winter, from hockey to WWJ's Winter Survival Team to the two worst words in the English language: wind chill. 

This year I will prevail. Some may say it is folly to challenge nature, but I have a unique combination of stubborness and stupidity to take Old Man Winter down. 

Words of the Week

Old Man Winter arrives today. He's not always a welcome guest at the Hetzler household.

Now commences the long winter evening around the farmer's hearth, when the thoughts of the indwellers travel far abroad, and men are by nature and necessity charitable and liberal to all creatures. Now is the happy resistance to cold, when the farmer reaps his reward, and thinks of his preparedness for winter…

- Henry David Thoreau

Reinforcements

This winter Old Wahoo is pleased to announce his new helper, the Moose.

Reading List

The Art of Manliness recently featured a post for the 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men, and though many of the books are a little old for the second-grader, there still were a couple he had already read (i.e., "The Trumpet of the Swan").

Old Wahoo loved the list, and he can't wait to share some of them with the boys, including "The Phantom Tollbooth." By only quibble: I would have added one of Lloyd Alexander's books, probably "The High King," the final chapter in a Lord of the Rings-style series that I loved.

What books do you remember from your childhood? What books are your kids reading now?

Family Tradition

The holidays are all about traditions. When I first moved to Michigan, it was hard to leave my old family ways behind. I still miss many of the things I did over the holidays with my Mom, Dad and brother, but now at least I've made some new traditions here with Mrs. Wahoo and the kids - and some of them go back to my days in good ol' Virginia.

Old Wahoo admits to being a sentimental sap about Christmas trees. I always liked decorating the tree when I was a kid, even if my parents can attest differently about 26 years ago. (The Redskins were playing the Cowboys that afternoon. The 'Skins were awesome that year - at least until the Super Bowl.)

Now, the Christmas tree remains a big deal, and Rob said it was his favorite holiday tradition. It means a lot to have the tree be a connector between the generations. Some of my favorite ornaments are the ceramic ones by Grandmother Iris made for us each Christmas, and I always point them out to my sons when we decorate the tree. I also like the knit ornaments of Snoopy and some snowmen that my great aunt Pattie made when I was young. I'm not sure that the boys make the connections (they probably don't) but I like that it continues a family link.

(More after the jump.)

Words of the Week

Mind over matter.

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force; that thoughts rule the world.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reason No. 1,247 Why I Hate Winter

Getting jackets, gloves/mittens, hats, scarves and snow pants on the kids (or not).

Words of the Week

Old Wahoo had to buy three strings of Christmas lights at CVS on Sunday, and it brought back all kinds of memories. (Plus I had to block the crazy lady who broke into her box of cookies before she bought them and tried to give them to everybody else in line. One poor dad tried to decline politely for his daughter, but CL gave the kid two cookies - practically shoved them down her throat). Anyway, here are the words I always remember at Christmas time.

"@!#*&#^@!&"

- My dad putting up Christmas tree lights, circa 1984

Culture Shock

With a change in the work schedule this week, Old Wahoo was home for dinner on Tuesday evening. It really should have been like a Monday night, my normal day off, but it felt different, as if the family was getting a "normal" night together - meaning that Mom, Dad and the kids all were together for meal time, just like I had with my parents and brothers and just like "Ozzie and Harriet."

But our family has a new "normal," and I expect many other families have their own versions of normal, too. There are definite advantages to working evenings. Besides having a job (for which I consider myself lucky), I get to spend more time with the younger children and watch them grow. There are disadvantages, such as spending less time with Rob and a lack of sleep (though I suspect that many others, even on a more traditional work schedule, struggle with rest, too).

Mostly, though, I realized how crazy evenings can be with the kids running on a buzz created by hunger and fatigue. Mornings have their craziness, too, but most days I only experience that early turmoil. Laura gets both, and I got to see how much she has to handle, and it made me wish I could help her in the evenings.

Still, we go on with our version of "normal." Though we often wish for something different and more time together, most times, we make it work - switching kid-watching duties at 3 p.m. most afternoons and trying to make the most of it . I'm hoping your "normal" - whatever it is - works, too.