Reality Me

So how do you react when your 9 year old child disappears for 2.5 hours? You know he went to a friend’s house but he didn’t come home on time and you are certain of his location because the friend’s house appears empty.

So he returns home and you try to remain calm but long ago the emotions built yup and you want to give him what for! But you hold it together while he describes that he went to another friend’s house; a friend you don’t know and who’s parents you’ve never met.

Simple rule at our house: Let us know where you are. That is, if you change houses, tell us; call, shout, come home first, send a smoke signal but let us know and make sure we got the message.

Here is where parenting becomes art. At the moment a child stands before you and like wet clay on a table, he begs to be molded. At this time, a child that was self-initiated to find himself something positive to do with his time waits to see if you teardown his self-confidence and instill the seeds of doubt with regard to making his own choices. So do you 1) yell and scold or 2) tell him "good job" and ask that he call home next time. Sometimes, with emotions churning, it is hard to do the latter and so wrong to do the former.

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Definitions April 26, 2006 6:07 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life

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lecÂ·ture Pronunciation Key (lkchr) n.: 1. An exposition of a given subject delivered before an audience or a class, as for the purpose of instruction.; 2. An earnest admonition or reproof; a reprimand.
teach Pronunciation Key (tch) v. taught, (tÃ´t) teachÂ·ing, teachÂ·es v. tr.: 1. To impart knowledge or skill to: teaches children.; 2. To provide knowledge of; instruct in: teaches French.; 3. To condition to a certain action or frame of mind: teaching youngsters to be self-reliant.; 4. To cause to learn by example or experience: an accident that taught me a valuable lesson.; 5. To advocate or preach: teaches racial and religious tolerance.; 6. To carry on instruction on a regular basis in: taught high school for many years.
nurÂ·ture Pronunciation Key (nÃ»rchr) tr.v. nurÂ·tured, nurÂ·turÂ·ing, nurÂ·tures: 1. To nourish; feed.; 2. To educate; train.; 3. To help grow or develop; cultivate: nurture a student’s talent.
parÂ·ent Pronunciation Key (pÃ¢rnt, pr-) n.: 1. One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.; 2. An ancestor; a progenitor.; 3. An organism that produces or generates offspring.; 4. A guardian; a protector.; 5. A parent company.; 6. A source or cause; an origin: Despair is the parent of rebellion.

[Source]

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I juggled..punish me now. April 26, 2006 5:05 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life

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Last night I juggled with the Knoxville Juggler’s Club. Excellent people! Very talented jugglers. I had a blast and when I came home I permitted myself some tv time with the wife, helped the beligerent 7th grader write an important speech for student council elections, then took a cat nap that lasted most of the night.

Now comes the punishment. My body isn’t sore like last time…at least, not yet. But I woke to find my Linux development server being uncooperative. Doesn’t want to find the network. Could be a bad nic. With the deadlines I have this week I can’t afford a moment’s downtime! Muuuurph!

Update: Dev server seeing network again!

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Blogmarks April 26, 2006 4:23 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest

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Sometimes I read something I want to save for later but bookmarks in a web browser do not cut it. Often I am not on the computer where I will need the reference later. Ergo, blogmarks!

In today’s blogmarks, we have How to see in the dark which I mark not for the information but rather to grab the rss feed when I am back downstairs. I like comparing these DIY pages. Speaking of, Make: (which I looove! Next issue should be coming out soon. Thank you Carmat!!) is coming out with a new magazine called Craft:.

Next up, 450+ helpful freeware utilities. I blogmark this not because I want to jump in and use these utilities. I don’t trust them! However, I troubleshoot enough computers and do enough geeky things that I may find this a good reference. Someday I’ll look them over.

Brings us to the New York Times, Students Searched Without Warning

the new searches would be used to confiscate not only weapons but also an array of “dangerous instruments,” as well as cellphones

Oh yeah, get those dangerous cell phones!

He advised any principal whose school faced the surprise searches to postpone any tests scheduled for first period. “Give the exam the next day,” he said.

Way to put the importance on education there Bloomberg!

And the final blogmark, Portable DVD player to include slot for Gameboy Advanced games.

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Parallel Parking Tip April 25, 2006 12:52 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Germantown, History, Of Interest, Video

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Do you have trouble parallel parking? If you have a good hand brake and front wheel drive like this Honda Civic then you too can parallel park perfectly everytime! Or you could do it like they do in Japan. My favorite is the Mini-Cooper sliding into the space.

I went to 9th and 10th grade in Medford, New Jersey. I went to 11th and 12th in Germantown, TN. Because of the differing state laws on when you could get a driver’s permit, I missed out on driver’s ed and instead had private lessons. Johnny “Dr. Fever” Caravella pulls up to my house in a beat up Nova. To learn to parallel park we drove to Memphis State University where I practiced until we bumped into one of the cars then we would pull ahead to find another spot until we bumped into those cars and repeated the process. Eventually, I became pretty good at parallel parking.

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White House Traditions April 25, 2006 11:59 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Video

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White House Easter Egg Roll

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Dad Taxi April 25, 2006 5:29 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life

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Apparently I’m driving a child to school today. I’d give a limb to get her to care enough to discuss these plans with me the night before. Had I known I was going to be in the car a half an hour this morning I would have woken half an hour earlier.

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Choosing your battles April 25, 2006 4:46 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family

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It really bothers me to see the children sleep in their clothes. The teenagers are particularly bad about this. Jeans bother me the most as they can be tight fitting; however, I feel a bit hypocritical in that statement because when I go camping I might sleep in jeans (rarely, since cotton holds moisture against the skin it’s a bad formula with the chill night air) and I can recall sleeping or cat napping at friend’s houses still clothed.

I have tried to fight this battle and I just don’t think it is worth it. I feel strongly they would be more comfortable and sleep better in appropriate sleepware. Maybe I need to purchase them some new sleepware or fine some other incentive to help them. But I think the best thing is to walk away from this battle.

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