THE DECADE AIN’T OVER, FOLKS!

Once again the American education system has failed our children and their parents. And the American media has perpetuated the problem.

On the local ABC station evening news they ran a three minute synopsis of the last decade, starting with the year 2000. 2000 just happens to be the last year of the last decade.

2001 is the first year of this decade and 2010 will be the last year. But not according to ABC TV. Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve will be the first party of the new decade. I bet even Dick Clark knows that isn’t correct.

Where did these people learn to count? Or did they? Ask a person to count to ten and they will start with the number one, not with zero. Except when it comes to years. It makes no sense. Someone didn’t pay attention in math class or the teacher led them astray when tallying years.

And then these same people wonder why time passes so quickly, why the years just fly by.

The answer is simple. Y’all can’t count!

SAINTS BE PRAISED!

On November 5, 2009, Sister Fidelis Kreutzer, SSMO, passed from this world. This grand lady was my wife's aunt. I have known Sister Fidelis since my wife and I were first married. While 'Sister' is her formal title, my wife called Sister Fidelis 'Auntie Fid', a name I took to using as well when speaking with her.

The passing of Auntie Fid was a sadness for her family and friends. But we all rejoice knowing she is in God's loving embrace. It should be noted that one sector of the American economy will suffer terribly because of Auntie Fid's going home to God. The Wrigley Chewing Gum Company has lost its best customer.

Over the years, thousands of children, young and old, have come to know Sister through the endless supply of gum that she carried in her pockets. It was through that simple gesture of a pack of gum being placed in our hands that many of us were reminded of God's unconditional love.

My two youngest nieces, when they first met Sister, pointed at Sister Fidelis and asked their aunt, "Who is that?" Sister quickly responded with, "God."

Auntie Fid was right. Through her so many of us met God face to face when she gave us some gum and said, "Bless your heart!" We were blessed indeed!

WHIRLWIND TOUR

Our trip to Germany and Italy is almost over. We have seen Salzburg, Venice, Rome, Assisi, Siena and Florence. We are in Florence until tomorrow morning when we head back to Uberlingen for a restful last week and a Thanksgiving dinner with Jaime's friends on Wednesday night. All sorts of German food to go along with our turkey and noodles(English family style) and some Chinese food from a coworker from Kansas. An interesting dinner to be sure.

Florence is a city I do not need to visit again. Not my favorite place in Italy. Assisi is my favorite city of the entire trip. A quiet hillside to rest and retreat from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. We did get to see the pope in Rome. The general audience with the Holy Father is a hoot. People from all over the world cheering for him when he enters the room and groups aknowledging him in their own way as they are introduced to him. All the prayers and introductions are done in several languauges and by time the audience was over, I felt that Pope Benedict is indeed OUR pope, not just mine.

My favorite parts of the trip have nothing to do with sights and sounds that could be overwhelming at times. It was the simple, quiet moments that filled me with the greatest joy.

Just as I expected, getting off the plane at Frankfurt was the best. Walking through that last hallway and seeing Jaime there put a joy in my heart I had not felt for a long time. And holding her close, not letting go of her for those few seconds is a feeling only a father can understand when he has his daughter in his arms again. Later in our travels, on one of our many train rides, I was sitting with Barb and Jaime in a small cabin for four. Barb and I were on one side of the compartment, Jaime on the other. Barb had fallen asleep. Jaime looks at me and says, "Dad, you can sit over here by me, if you want." I moved right away, knowing what would happen. In an instant, as soon as I sat down, Jaime had her head on my shoulder. Oh, how I have missed those moments over the last ten months. It is so good to be Jaime's dad in person, once again!

OFF TO GERMANY

Only two days left before my wife and I take off for Germany and seeing our daughter again after ten months of Skype visits. We are getting more anxious to leave as each day passes.

When we tell people we are going to travel to Germany and Italy we get all sorts of advice and recommendations. The usual ones include “Have a great time!”, “Have a safe trip!”, “Oh, Italy! Enjoy the food! Enjoy the people!”, and so on.

Two comments have stood out not for their enthusiasm but for their approach. One, from a well traveled friend of mine: “Trim your toenails before you leave. Your feet will swell from lots of walking and that extra bit of toe room makes a difference.”

The second from a parent at my wife’s school after my wife sent an email to parents saying she will be gone for a while and that we will meeting our daughter who has been working in Germany for the past year. Before our daughter returns home to start her own business, we are going to go explore Italy with her. We have never taken a trip like this before, (We have been to Canada and the East coast) and can’t pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. The parent responded to my wife with,

“Good for you. Have a wonderful trip, we have never done anything like this either, so I will hold out hope that our daughter or son create the opportunity for us one day.”

If you can’t travel when you are young, maybe your children will make it possible for you when they are young adults. Bring your own toenail clippers.

IT IS FOOTBALL SEASON ONCE AGAIN

And there are some things about football, college and professional, which I still don’t understand. Every year I ponder the same mysteries.

Why, on a pass play to the tight end, do the announcers always say the quarterback “completes a pass to the big tight end.” Have you ever seen a tight end in football who isn’t big? I checked statistics on tight ends in the pros. A sampling of five shows that the average weight is 250 lbs. and the average height is 6’ 4”. Do the announcers think we can’t tell that the tight end is big? Just once I would like to hear an announcer say, “The quarterback completes a pass to the little tight end.” That won’t happen, but the use of the phrase ‘big tight end’ is far better than “the quarterback completes a pass to his tight end.”

Another call by announcers that always intrigues me is the one about the running back who has broken through the line for a 20 or 30 yard run for a touch down. “And No. 22 scampers 30 yards for the touchdown!”

Only football players “scamper”. Baseball players don’t scamper as they run the bases. A basketball player doesn’t scamper after stealing the ball and running down the floor for a slam dunk.

And yet I cannot imagine telling a 6’, 210 lbs. running back named Bubba that he ran ‘nimbly and playfully about’ as he scored the touchdown.

Bambi scampers. Bubba barreled his way through to the end zone.

AWARDS?

President Barack Hussein Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. Quite an honor. An interesting choice given that the man has only been in office nine months and has only given speeches about things the prize committee deems important in its selection process. But the President has to be proud.

What should make him more proud is that just a few months ago he was given an honor not afforded to other presidents, except for Washington and Jefferson. Just in time for Christmas gift giving, Joseph Enterprises is again promoting its Chia Pet of President Obama. The Nobel Peace Prize pales in comparison to the Chia Pet award. Or does it?

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO! Part II

I root for the University of Oregon Ducks. My reasons for doing so are plentiful. My daughter is a Duck. Three of her uncles are Ducks, as are three first-cousins, several first-cousins once removed and her great-grandfather. There are some Oregon State Beavers in the family and come football season we have great fun cheering on our respective schools.

This carries over into my work. The boss is a Beaver Believer. She hired me even though on the day of my interview I was wearing my Duck hat and Duck Dad t-shirt.

I do not miss an opportunity to have the toddler kids yell out, “Go Ducks!” when the boss is in the room. She plays along with the kids and responds with a “Go Beavs!” and then gives me a look that lets me know she is on to my tricks.

My monkey see monkey do kid joins right in with the “Go Ducks!” even though he has no idea what the fun is all about.

Or maybe he does. The other day the cheering started for the boss’ benefit. The young man joined in and proceeded to use a plastic carrot he was holding as a club. He was hitting another child on the head while he was chanting “Go Ducks!” over and over.

None of the other kids were hitting anybody as they chanted so I wondered where my monkey see monkey do kid got the idea to hit somebody on the head. Then I remembered the Boise State game in September. The power of television…

JUSTIFYING TIME OFF FROM WORK IN NOVEMBER

The boss at the daycare wants to know people's schedule for fall term. This makes her job of scheduling people for work a lot easier.

I will be gone for three weeks in November. This is my way of telling the boss why I am going to be gone.


November 9, 2009 through November 27, 2009: International Studies Program

This will be an intensive study of parent and child relationships in Germany, Austria and Italy with an emphasis on the public transportation options available in Europe today and the effect on families utilizing those options.

Two days and one night will be spent in Salzburg, Austria analyzing transportation options available to Austrian families under the Nazi regime during World War II. A highlight of the visit to Strasburg will be a guided tour of the local countryside with a discussion of the role of music during those years.

Three days of study in Germany on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) will be followed by thirteen days in Italy with stops in Venice, Rome, Assisi, Sienna, and Florence. Studies in both countries will focus on the history of those cities and the influence of religion on the culture of the region.

The final days of the program will be spent traveling through Switzerland on board the Golden Pass train. The train is made up of panoramic cars that provide a spectacular view of the landscape and the Swiss Alps. An in-depth study comparing the geography of the valleys and the mountains will be conducted on board the train.

While the knowledge gained and the experiences from the course are priceless, this is a non-credit class. Thus no exams or summary papers will be required.

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO!

This place where I am working with 1-2 year old kids has “size appropriate tables and chairs”. That’s fancy early childhood education lingo for “kiddie chairs and tables”. This is a good thing for the kids. Easier for them to sit down and eat. One of the drawbacks is that occasionally we have to tell a child to put his or her feet on the floor and to get off the table. Mostly they start to climb on the table and we catch them. Sometimes they will be lying on the table. That has been the extent of their misdirected behavior (another fancy bit of ECE lingo that means “misbehaving”).

Recently, however, we had a new child enter the group. This child is a climber. One of the first things the child did was climb on a table. In a flash, the child was standing on the table, grinning back at us. “Hey, look at me!”

This wouldn’t be so bad except that this event happens at least five times a day. To make matters worse, all the kids who only started to climb have learned from the master and are now full fledged climbers. And kids, who would not have even thought about climbing, are joining in. We now have a room full of toddlers who are table dancers! Every one of them with a big smile on the face, “Hey, look at me!”

Not to be deterred by the climbing restrictions, the new child has another trick that occurred on the playground the other day. I saw that familiar grin on the kid’s face but this time it was accompanied by a wood chip about the size of a cotton swab. Yes, the wood chip was being used to clean the ear. I broke all the new rules about talking to the child about what is happening (“I see you are jamming a piece of wood into your eardrum while you think you are mimicking your mom cleaning her own ear.”) and I pulled the hand away, tossed the chip to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking that was enough excitement for the morning recess, I found out otherwise. When I turned around, the number one monkey see, monkey do kid in the class was standing there, looking at me, with wood chip in hand. And the grin on the face.

LIFE GOES ON

Or more appropriately, “Life is what happens when you are making other plans”.

Thirty three years ago today on June 26, 1976, I entered into a lifelong commitment with Barbara Ann (cue the Beach Boys here). More properly called a covenant relationship known as marriage.

Nothing has turned out as I thought it would. We talked of four children, we have three. Two here, one in heaven. The first two children are beautiful girls. Our oldest child is thriving in her own right, living and working in Germany and growing wiser every day. Our second daughter died in the seventh month of pregnancy from trisome 18 (everything a Downs Syndrome child has and more). Our youngest, a son, came to us in the second month of his life through adoption, or as my brother calls it, “the paperwork method”. He too is growing wiser every day but he lives at home and like many folks today, is looking for work.

It was always our intention to be married “until death do you part”. However, I have been taking it in stages based on my heroes in marriage, our parents. The first step was to be married as long as Barb’s parents before her mother died. We made that a few years ago. Then it was to be married as long as my parents before my father died. We make that mark today! Next up is being married as long as my father-in-law and mother-in-law. They were both widowed and found love again for 35 years before death once again did part. After that goal is reached, the magic number is 50. A number of our aunts and uncles have attained that mark so we look to their lives for inspiration and reason for matching their accomplishments.

This anniversary time is always bittersweet. Today we celebrate being married. Tomorrow we celebrate our second daughter’s feast day. While the pain of losing her will never go away, the joy of knowing she is resting comfortably in God’s loving embrace and the pleasure of her six grandparents sustains us.

Despite all the ups and downs through the years, Barbara Ann still loves me. Life is good.

Baptisms

At Mass this morning we had five children being baptized. Three infants and two siblings, ages three and five. Quite a crowd with all the parents, grandparents and Godparents and other family in attendance.

My wife and I were altar ministers and we had a great view of the Baptisms. As I was watching the action, I was busy guessing which children would be coming through the line where I would be giving Communion.

As the congregation comes through the communion line, I give a blessing to the children who are not old enough to receive the Body of Christ. I enjoy this because the parents love it and the children who are old enough, watch with great fascination as I make the sign of the cross on their forehead. Baptism days are even better because there is chance one of the new Christians will be coming through my line. And when they do, I get to be one of the first members of the church to give them a blessing.

In the midst of my elation this morning, I realized that my hero, Walt, wasn’t in line. Walt is an older, retired gentleman who is usually in the second pew and about the fourth person to receive communion. Walt has that look of wisdom and age about him. He also has a glint in his eye when he receives the bread that tells you he knows there is something very special happening.

I look forward to giving communion to Walt because his smile and that glint in his eye reminds me of the importance of what I am doing and that we are, indeed, the Body of Christ when we receive.

Pecking Order

There is a yearly phenomenon (occurrence) in grade school and high school. An eighth grader is finally at the top of the heap, king of the hill, top dog and no longer the little kid in school. “I am somebody!” as Jesse J. would say. The same is true for seniors in high school. But then, reality sets in the following school year and you start all over at the bottom. While I have seen this for years with my children and others as they went from junior high to high school and high school to college, it was brought up again at a new level in my current job.

I work with these wonderful little kids who range from infancy to three years old. They are in age groups of infant, wobbler, toddler and transition. The toddlers and transition kids are just like the eighth graders and high school seniors. They finally get to the status of top dog and then one day, they start all over in the next class room.

I remember eighth graders being real butt heads when I was in seventh grade. Of course, when my class became the eighth graders we were wonderful human beings. We didn’t pick on the younger kids nor do anything mean to them, unlike the classes before us.

With the toddlers, and this holds true for the transition kids, the older kids are very much into pushing and shoving and taking toys and attention away from the younger kids. But there is a God and this June, three of the toddlers reached the ripe old age of two and moved up to the transition class. Back to the bottom of the pile they go.

What I enjoyed about this discovery of the cyclical pecking order was listening to the teachers as they analyzed the kids last week while we were watching them on the playground. It was a consensus that a particular child was ready to move up and that doing so would put him in his place. There is another child who is already in the older class and she will be put in her place because of a younger child moving up. Already the class dynamics have changed. The cliques and groupings are different at two and three years old. It is not surprising then, that as kids enter junior high and high school that they are well versed in the art of taking charge.

Murphy's Law?

It seems inevitable. I go to the grocery store and grab a cart. Even if I carefully select a cart to make sure the wheels aren't bent or wobbly or whatever, I get a cart that immediately becomes a nuisance once I am inside the store. The cart steers to the right or a wheel is locked or the cart frame is bent and one wheel never touches the ground.

A few weeks ago I went to the grocery store and the cart rack was full of brand new carts. I thought I had a change of luck. Took the very first cart as there was no way I would be able to get a bad cart when they are all brand new.

Once inside the door, the inevitable happened. The right rear wheel went into spin mode. It never touched the ground and the cart steered to the right. What are the odds? I think that somewhere, out there, at a grocery cart manufacturing plant, there is a worker laughing heartily, knowing that a piece of his handiwork is causing someone a less than perfect shopping trip.

A new day

Working in a day care (early childhood education center) has been a change from years at a desk. Changing diapers, wiping tears and runny noses, and going for walks around the room with my two favorite girls is a new way of looking at life. The paperwork I left behind is not important any more, the kids are.

When I walk into the classroom for my shift, my two favorite girls, both of whom are almost two years old, come running over and give me hugs and grab my hands. We proceed to walk around the room several times. It has become a ritual and I can't tell them no. The unconditional love is just wonderful to receive from these ladies.

On my first day at the new job, I was sitting on the floor and leaning over to pick up something (toys or the like) and there was one of my girls standing by me. All of a sudden I feel this very light brushing of a hand on my bald head. I am the only bald guy there. She was just trying to figure out what happened to my hair. Bald may not always be beautiful, but it certainly can be a novelty. The next day, in a different classroom with other kids, I found my bald head being the center of attention again as the kids drove several toy cars and trucks over my head.

All this serves to remind me that I am the oldest person at the center, my coworkers are about the same age as my children and I have more fun with the kids than with any of the adults in the building.

This blog started out at the request/urging of my daughter and a friend from highschool. I left a desk job at the end of the year and ventured into what my daughter calls "twilight retirement".
In January, I started a new job working part-time at a childcare center.

There have been some advantages to this change. The biggest being that I am enjoying work for the first time in about 30 years. And my blood pressure is down. That pleases my doctor. I also have some time to write. Something I have been meaning to do for about 30 years as well.

While this blog was going to be stories about childcare adventures, it is really about being in my 60th year and trying to figure out what I am going to be when, or if, I grow up. It is going to be the place for me to voice my opinions and thoughts about life in general. Random thoughts from a meandering mind, without interruptions from people who know more than I.

I do not know if anyone will read this blog. Probably my daughter and my friend will because they want to see if I am doing what they encouraged me to do. At the very least, I can read what I wrote and wonder if it makes sense.