Words of the Week

Remembering heroic actions, whatever the government may say.

"I asked the general, 'How can you say that there were doubts and yet you give us a Navy Cross citation that says that Sergeant Peralta did the exact same thing the Marines say he did?'" I told him, 'Every single Medal of Honor from now on is going to be tainted because of what's been done to Peralta.' The Marines are never going to give up. We're never going to give up fighting for Peralta's medal."

- George Sabga, "What Happened to Valor?", New York Times Magazine

Trip to the Zoo

With the two older boys vacationing Up North with their grandparents, Old Wahoo and Mrs. Wahoo decided things were too calm at home so we took the Moose to the zoo. Remarkably, the zoo, despite hordes of school buses and filled with animals, was less wild than our home.
By the way, we think the Detroit Zoo is fantastic. The polar bear exhibit is first-rate, and we like the Outback Station where visitors can walk with the kangaroos.

Playground Periscope

Whenever the Moose hits the playground, my blood pressure ticks up a couple of notches. Like his brothers before him (especially the eldest), the Moose loves to push the limits by climbing the highest slide or jumping headlong onto the merry-go-round. I watch like a hawk, though I try to let him have his space and let him discover what he can do (within reason), but often I find the playground more stress-inducing than stress-relieving.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Over at Dadcentric, a recent post tackles the perils of playground watching. It is indeed a state of constant vigilance.

 My right eye is trained on my youngest, who is standing atop a 10’ slide approximately 47 degrees to my right, while my left eye is watching my eldest bounce up and down on a suspension bridge. My brain is receiving and processing simultaneous feeds from each eye regarding each boy’s current status. Any report of injury, a pained expression, or unacceptable behavior will trigger action in the rest of the body. It is a spectacular feat of dual awareness, a demonstration of two hemispheres functioning independently in order to accomplish a common goal, a state which I am able to accomplish through a combination of intense ocular control, deep breathing, and Norris-like focus. And I can maintain it for all of .37 seconds. 

Sizing Things Up

The Moose is learning to use the potty (I'll be glad when that word disappears from my lexicon), and Mrs. Wahoo tries to keep him entertained/distracted with games so he will do his business. 

There's the Letter Game, where Mrs. Wahoo, for example, asks the Moose what starts with the letter "M." ("MOMMY! MATTY!") 

There's also Big or Small, which seems harmless enough. Mrs. Wahoo will ask if a toe is big or small, and the Moose will say, "SMALL!" Again, pretty tame stuff.

Usually. The two played that game the other night during potty time, and the Moose is on a roll. "SMALL. BIG. SMALL." Suddenly, he blurts out "penis." Then after two seconds, he answers. "BIG! YEA!"

He's our potty mouth.

The Chase Is On

The Moose was on the loose in Target today. Fortunately, he wasn't too hard to corral. Still, I think this was a first. I have had a son scream "Put me down old man!" (still the winner in my book), but I've never had a slow-speed chase before. I just wish I could have had a siren on the shopping cart because the Moose would've loved that.

Amazing but true (3 kids edition): Finally had my first slow speed chase through Target this morning in effort to capture the 2-year-old.less than a minute ago via webJohn Hetzler
hetzhoo

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Thanks!

Words of the Week

Stay true forever.

Don’t worry about losing your accent, a Southern Man tells better jokes.

- Drive-By Truckers, "Outfit"

Brothers Running in Different Directions

The two oldest boys participated in the elementary school's running club (free activity! of course we're taking part), and they showed once again how two brothers can be so similar and yet so different. 

They both loved the running (a couple of laps, a sprint, some light stretching), just like they both like Legos and Star Wars. But when the session was almost over, the coaches asked the kids to write down their goals, and that's when their differences were highlighted.

The second-grader wrote a detailed explanation, saying that he's a soccer player so, of course, he's good at running, and why, he thinks he can run 5 miles by the end of the day (not the summer, the day). Then, there's his slightly less confident younger brother, who simply wrote his name and said his goal was to run one lap (which he already done twice earlier in the day).

Saving Your Children's Brains

Old Wahoo rejects censorship, though that belief was tested when his kids listened to a Miley Cyrus song last night. I want my kids to grow up to be smart, creative, open-minded people, and I believe in exposing them to different culture, music, art, etc. Heck, I don't mind them watching bad TV (partly because I'm lazy, and partly because I'm rediscovering Public Enemy right now), but Miss Miley is pushing it a bit far. 

I'm sure she is a fine person, but I her music begs for silence, either by turning it off or my obeying your mother. I will do both. I will turn it off, and urge my kids to listen to anything different. Menudo. Madonna. Matchbox 20. (OK, maybe not them.) 

And since my mother told me that if I can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, I'll try to hold my tongue about "Party in the USA." Hey, I guess it's better than her dad's songs. That's not too bad, is it? 

(Warning: Some of these links will turn your brains to mush, just like the faces of those bad guys in "Raiders of the Lost Ark.")

Words of the Week

Remembering a baseball legend, Ernie Harwell.

“Baseball is Tradition in flannel knickerbockers. And Chagrin in being picked off base. It is Dignity in the blue serge of an umpire running the game by rule of thumb. It is Humor, holding its sides when an errant puppy eludes two groundskeepers and the fastest outfielder. And Pathos, dragging itself off the field after being knocked from the box.”- Ernie Harwell, "The Game for All America"

Star Wars Legos

Old Wahoo's kids love two things most of all: Star Wars and Legos. So this video, which combines their two favorite things in a most hilarious way, will be a big hit with them. The Moose already loves it.

My Son, the General Manager

Old Wahoo told the kindergartner about the Tigers' victory over the Angels on Sunday, and I told him about how well Justin Verlander pitched. He was excited, of course, but as usual he was also worried: "I hope they don't trade him."

I agreed with him. Then the kindergartner offered this gem: "They should trade all the bad players and get all the good players." That logic is sound. Maybe he can be the general manager of the Tigers someday.

The kindergartner remembers the Curtis Granderson trade, which was not popular with many Tigers fans, both young and old. (Someone should have taken a poll of what elementary-school kids thought about the trade. I expect it would have received a big thumbs-down.) But even though it is early, Austin Jackson - a key piece of the trade - is excelling for the Tigers, while Granderson is struggling and on the disabled list for the Yankees.

Words of the Week

Above all others, the one rule I want my kids to know. 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I loved you, that you also love one another."

- John 13:34