Barry’s Daily Web News

Raising Kids Has It’s Ups and Downs

Some of my posts may seem like I’m complaining about my kids behavior. Actually, I think child raising, just like most activities, has it’s ups and downs. I love Sean and Ethan dearly, and would not miss out on their growing up for anything in the world.

This is really a diary, and I like to record everything that goes on with Sean and Ethan, both good and bad. In fact, looking at some of the posts over the last two years, I can see how Sean in particular, has overcome many obstacles. And of course, as a parent, how I have learned to do things better as well. In fact, my fondest memories are overcoming challenges. So please don’t be discouraged by any issues I bring up with Sean and Ethan. I promise, things will work out in the end.

Sean Misses Soccer Practice

Sean missed out on soccer practice today. I came home from work early to take Sean to his 4:30 pm practice time. We actually arrived early. The problem was that Sean refused to put on his shin guards and cleats. He pitched a temper trantrum. He refused to put the guards and shoes on, and he refused to go home. So, we watched the first half of practice from the sidelines, before Sean decided it was time to go home. It’s a shame; Sean was full of energy when he I came home from work, and I hoped he would have fun running around during practice.

Why This Post Has a Title

One of the features of this web site is the RSS feed. That feed is represented by the icon on this page.

What’s so special about an RSS feed? Well, you can subscribe to the feed with an RSS reader. The RSS reader will than scan updates at one hour intervals, daily, or whatever you tell it too. For just one web site, it’s no different than going out on the web and checking at those intervals. However, you can subscribe to many feeds at once, and have them brought to one location. This is much more efficient than browsing the web.

I set up an RSS reader at work, so that I can quickly scan the news headlines, without wasting much time by “surfing”. I took a look at the RSS feed from this site, and it was ugly. A title is created automatically from the first 50 or so letters of each post, ususally ending in the middle of the word. Ugly and distracting. Since my RSS feeds are putting out titles, I thought I would put one in that made more sense.

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I took Sean and Ethan to the library this evening. Both of them behaved nicely, although Sean was a little rambunctious during baby time, and Ethan was the same for story time. It was nice to be able to take the kids out for a good time by myself, and still relax.

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Sean, Ethan, and I had fun at the park tonight. Ethan is improving his skills at walking up and down hills. One side of the play area has a fairly steep hill. Ethan can now just about make it on his own. I walked him up and down several times, holding his hand to keep up his confidence. Ethan can manage all but the steepest part on his own.

Sean had a learning experience at the park as well. One of the boys Sean was playing with was not being very nice. He pushed Sean a few times. The boy was older than Sean, but Sean outweighed him. Sean told me that the boy was pushing him, and I told Sean to tell the boy to stop, which he did. Later on, this boy was throwing sand at his younger sister. I immediately intervened, as Sean has a tendency to imitate other’s behavior. Just as I was telling Sean not to throw sand, the young girl picked up a handful of sand and threw it back at her brother. As luck would have it, the sand went right into the boy’s eyes. I told Sean, “see why we don’t throw sand at other people?”

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I appear to have come down with a cold, or at least I’m fighting one off. Cortney took Sean to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad park, while I stayed home with Ethan. It sounds like Sean had a really good time.

Ethan is quite a character. He’s easy to take care of. He understands “no touch”, and will usually follow through without any intervention. He will play on his own, then let you know when he wants to spend time with you. It’s cute when he hands you a book when he wants to be read to. I enjoyed spending the day with him.

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Sean had a real soccer game today. He played the first five minutes of the game, then sat out for the rest. At least while he was in the game, he was running around well, and he looked like he was doing a good job of playing position. I guess that’s a start.

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I took Sean and Ethan out again this evening. As usual for Friday nights, we went to Burger King. Sean was supposed to meet up with his friends Shannon and Nicolas, but they did not show up until it was time for us to go home and get ready for bed.

Sean did have some other kids to play with. I was comparing ages with one Mom who had a son there who was two and a half. She is due in a few months, so her kids will have the same age difference as Sean and Ethan. Her son had a similar personality to Sean’s, so I almost feel sorry for what she will have to go through when her second child is born. Of course, I did not mention the problems we had with Sean when Ethan was born.

After the boy left, I decided to hop into the ball pit, so Ethan could roam the play area. He is real close to being able to wade through the balls on his own. Once he can do this, he will have full access to the other areas, since he can negotiate those on his own.

A short while later, a family with three boys showed up. By this time, Sean and Ethan were getting tired. I caught Sean pushing the youngest of the three boys. I was admonishing Sean when the father said not to worry, that the young boy was used to having his older brothers push him around. Sounds like Ethan with Sean. I lectured Sean anyway, but it was nice to not have the other parent get upset by it. This has happened to us at this particular Burger King before. Apparently not all parents appreciate the phrase “boys will be boys”.

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Cortney had a rough day with Sean and Ethan. While she was busy in the bathroom, they managed to get a hold of some nail polish. Between the two of them, they managed to spill it on the carpet. Cortney called me at work, and I emailed her the instructions on how to clean it up, from this site. She was able to get almost all of the stain up. This all occurred on a section of the carpet that is badly stained anyway, so I don’t think anyone will notice one more stain.

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It was a few degrees cooler today, but still warm enough to go the park in short sleeves. As usual, Sean and Ethan spent most of the time on the swings. Sean did have fun running around with another boy who was his size, so he did get some good exercise. Ethan tried running after the older boys, then became tired and didn’t want to do anything other than go back on the swing. Both Sean and Ethan were happy to get a bath after the trip to the park.

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Ethan had his 15 month well visit this morning. Ethan now has three molars to add to his collection of eight front teeth. I hope this means the worst of the teething is behind us. Ethan did suprisingly well with his shots too. He cried out when he was poked, then was fine after that. Ethan’s measurements are as follows: height 50%, weight, 23%, and head diameter 60%. This is consistent with his previous measurements.

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I took Sean and Ethan to McDonalds for dinner tonight, to give Cortney a break. Sean had fun playing with a boy who was just a month younger than he was. Sean and the boy climbed all through the play area together, than they both played one of the video games, or at least tried to. This particular game was a racing game, and if you didn’t steer you vehicle correctly, it would run into the side rails and eventually burst into flames. They kept doing this over and over again, and thought it was real funny. Ethan had fun playing with some girls who were at least a year older than he was. He was clearly enjoying himself, since he was giving his little smile that he does when he is happy. Sean and Ethan were having such a good time, that I kept them out until it was time for bed.

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Sean did something new today. He ate tomato sauce with his pasta. He also wanted a bit of salt. Sean said that the liked it that way, but I’m not sure he wasn’t just imitating me. I may not have the best diet, but if Sean ate everything that I did, it would be an improvement over what he eats now.

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Cortney took the family to a different park this evening, for a change of scenery. This different park was nice, but what really mattered was that it had a good swingset. Sean and Ethan seem to prefer to spend 95% of their time on the swings these days. So, we had a good time at the park. Oh, and Cortney went out of her way during her busy day today to try a new recipe for dinner. It was delicious, and I appreciate Cortney making the effort.

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It was a nice day today, so we went to the park this afternoon. This time, we brought a kite, which was a Christmas present from Cortney’s parents. I was able to get the kite up in the air a couple of times, but the wind was not steady enough to keep it aloft. Sean had fun running with the kite to keep it up in the air. We’ll try the kite again on a windier day.

The time at the park was not all fun. Sean managed to get his arm stuck in the playground equipment. Apparently, the gap between two bars was wider at the top than the bottom. Sean put his arm through at the top, and somehow slid his arm down to the bottom. It was really stuck. I couldn’t move it all. One of the mother’s on the playground brought over some water to use as a lubricant. That was just enough to get Sean’s arm loose. Sean was calm while his arm was stuck, but he was really shaken afterwards. I gave Sean some time on the swings to make him feel better before bringing him home.