New Link - Family Education

I just put up a new parent link. The page covers many topics of interest. I'll preview several articles in the future.

Golf

The kids and I went golfing yesterday before it started raining again. We had a great time. We only lost three balls, but I found one so we had a net loss of two. Damn good golfing if you ask me. I shot a 42, but the kids didn't want me to keep their score. That's cool. They get plenty of pressure to keep score in school. They've got their grades to keep. They've got their friends to tally up.

Concert

My daughter's sixth grade band concert was Thursday.  She wasn't nearly as nervous as usual.  Nerves?  She worried that people would be watching her and only her.  I was only able to see her because I was in an upper row of the auditorium.  She worried that she'd make a mistake.  It's her first year playing, so of course she'll make a mistake.  At least she doesn't play the clarinet, which squeek outrageously if you don't hold the reed quite right in your mouth.  She plays the trombone, which isn't very girly, but she isn't very girly.  But she did dress up in beautiful dress.  She is beautiful.  Makes me nervous.

Watching the kids play makes me wish I was able to play.

Argh!

How much rain can we get?  We get fewer days of sunshine than Seattle, but we don't have the supposed suicide rate.  That's a bonus.

Follow this link to a "ReadyMade" article on how to appear smarter.  Pass this along to family and friends as the easy to follow steps in this article should lead to success and happiness.

Huh?

An interesting list of books recommended for reading by College Board.com.


Gee, too much dough? Let me try.

Golf today

Unable to golf yesterday or mow the lawn. By the time the weather lightened up the kids got home. Tried to mow the lawn, but the mower wouldn't start. So, I read from Rebecca Blood's book on blogging and cooked dinner. So far I've learned the history of weblogs and what makes up a weblog. I'm fng at weblogging, if you couldn't tell. Rebecca's weblog can be found here.

She had an interesting link on involved v. uninvolved fathers and the affect on test taking of their children. My children should be little Einsteins...but they're not. Admittedly, my daughter is doing way better in school than I did at her age. I've been told, by a couple of women, that girls just do better in school. That just doesn't sound right, but apparently I'm out of touch as this article illustrates. I see that girls do better than boys in school in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and elsewhere. If girls are doing better in school than boys, which obviously runs contrary to my preconceived notion, why then don't they do better at the college entrance exams such as the SAT, MCAT, etc.? Why, the tests are gender biased of course. If girls do universally better in school work than boys then semi-logically they should do better at tests. This is the case in the U.K. where the tests are "girly" (sic)or biased towards girls. In the U.S. the tests are "manly" according to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing.

What does this mean to me? My 13 year-old daughter has dreamed of becoming a veterinarian since she was two years old. Getting into vet school is highly competitive and I'll be mighty angry if she fails to achieve her dream due to a standardized test that is biased against her gender. On the other hand, my underperforming son could benefit from a little help. And isn't that ironic? I'll have to ponder this issue on the golf course today.

Doonesbury

Is Gary Trudeau's "Doonesbury" completely irrelevant yet? Back years ago, 25 to 30 years ago, his strips held some meaning and timeliness and even humor. Now, his strips are just tired and pointless and grotesque. Many cartoonists quit when they've run out of fresh material. Perhaps it's time for Trudeau to hang it up.

Cable t.v.

I cancelled cable t.v. in November and didn't renew until a few weeks ago. We went without cable for five months. The kids didn't complain much at first (I'm a lying sack of shit). But they adapted, as did I, and we found other things to do. I always read anyway, but the kids started reading, too. They also started doing their homework first thing when we all got home. No arguments, because, gee, there wasn't much else to do anyway. Grades improved. We do have a vcr and a ps2, so we didn't go completely without electronic fun. Not to mention that we have the internet and computer games. I wish I could say we bonded more intensely (I vow not to be a lying sack of shit). At the end of April, I ordered cable so I could watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wings were ejected in the second round. They need to rebuild. Amazingly, the kids have hardly watched any t.v. (you think I'm a lying sack of shit).

More rain

We have been getting a shit load of rain. Northern Michigan weather bites. Three weeks of decent weather surrounded by rain or snow and cold. I exaggerate, minimally. Tomorrow, Saturday, is supposed to be sunny and bright and 50f degrees. I'm going golfing or maybe mow the lawn. Nah, I'll be going golfing. I bought a used driver three weeks ago and I need to unleash that beast. I've only had it to a driving range once! I hate this weather. How is it that the grass can grow so long without sunshine? Maybe I'll have to mow the lawn before I go golfing.

Night off

A couple nights a week the kids stay with their mom. Having primary custody is a gas, but I'm glad I have a couple evenings to myself. Not that I've been storming the gates of the opposite sex, but I do get to watch hockey without listening to the kids complain. I don't have to listen to their bickering or the "Ed, Edd and Eddy's" hijinx on the tube. Wait a minute: I enjoy Ed, Edd and Eddy.

Baseball

My son had baseball practice after school. This is a big year for him since his team will be facing a pitcher instead of a pitching machine. If you don't know: A machine pitches with consistant velocity and a human doesn't. Hitting is going to be more difficult this year and it is already apparent from watching practices. My son has played for three years now and his skills have really improved, but he still only tipped the ball foul a few times. The other guys didn't do much better. Luckily, the season doesn't start for another month. I love watching my boy play ball.

This is just the beginning

Approximately five years ago I became a single-father. My children were 8 and 6 years old when their mom moved out and moved on. Coming from what was a typical family, I wasn't raised to raise kids. The census of 2000 found that nearly 16% of children under 18 living with one parent were living with their dad. In 1970, that percentage was 9%. As of 2000, single-dad households made up 12% of all households. Although dads as single parents is still significantly less than moms as single parents, the role of dads as single parents is increasing. This increase pales in comparison to the reality of the total increase in children raised without both parents in their home. In 2000, 26% of all children under 18 lived in a home with one parent compared to 12% in 1970. Many studies have been completed showing the effects this has on children, but my main concern is the effect it has on two children: mine.

Luckily, the kids' mom is still in their lives. She sees them a couple times a week and I think she does a better job of caring for them now than she did when she was around all the time. And "around" about sums up her involvement for the last couple of years of our marriage. If I thought it was painful living with someone as joyless as her, what did the kids think? They aren't talking. They love their mom and that is as it should be.