Month: February 2013

Things our kids should know (before college)

/ Shane / 9 Comments

I feel like I was more or less prepared to live on my own at the start of college. However, both from our personal experiences, whether they were from ourselves or seeing others, and from seeing other parents with college-age kids, it seems that many people are unprepared to handle the day to day activities required to live on your own. In most cases, it seems it’s not because the kids are too young, or too irresponsible, or had parents that were too overbearing. I think mostly it’s just a case of overlooking things; nobody ever really discussed some of these details with them. Main things are covered, but the little details slip through the cracks.

So Sara and I attempted to put together a check list of things we’d like our kids to know by the time they start college. Granted, we’ve got a little time before this is really an issue for us, but the Internet is forever and the list will stay here until we need it. A lot of these things are probably applicable to living on their own in general, but our experience is specifically with college being the first time out on our own, and there are some challenges that are specific to that area.

In no specific order:

  • Know how to write checks and balance a checkbook.
  • Know how to wash and dry clothes. This includes trying a variety of machines, at least one of which is a pay machine, before going.
  • Expectation management: Expect to go to all your classes, buy all your books, etc. College is now your full time job; you should expect to total 40 hours/week of class or studying (which is probably less than recommended but more than needed to just skate by–this should be a good intermediate amount). Believe me, it still leaves you plenty of free time.
  • Live in the dorm for at least one year to meet new people.
  • If you have a credit card (and I think both having one and not having one are okay), do not charge more on it than you can pay off that month–EVER. Waiting until you have the money for something builds character, and being fiscally responsible means you’ll ultimately have more stuff in the long run (and live a longer, less stressful life in which to enjoy it!)
  • If you live in a dorm, enjoy the fact that you don’t have to cook, but make good food choices.  Eat a salad every day (oh, the prep-work that you are missing out on)!  Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies daily.  Don’t exclusively drink pop (it is gross and full of chemicals).  When you live on your own, realize that simple meals at home are cheaper and healthier than lean cuisine and take-out.
  • This is the only time you will ever have a free gym membership!  Figure out how to use the machines, take advantage of any free or low-cost classes you are curious about, and play wallyball!
  • Know how ATMs work. Understand ATM fees (don’t use another bank’s ATM).
  • Know basic household maintenance (how to change a light switch, how to remove and clean the trap under the sink, etc.)
  • Know basic sewing skills (how to hem pants, how to sew on a button, etc.)
  • You don’t need to be the cleanest person in the world, but you do need to be responsible for yourself.  Make sure you know how to vacuum, dust, sweep, do the dishes, take out the trash, etc.

Anything we missed? Anything you wish you knew when you (or your children) went to college?

Checkers Redux

/ Shane / Leave a comment

About a month ago, I reported on Evie’s progress playing checkers. I am now willing to say that she is as good as any adult (and probably better than some). Last weekend she played 6 games of checkers against adults, and she won 3 of them. I don’t think I would have done any better myself. I think it’s a pretty impressive feat for a 5 year old.

Basically the difference is that she’s shored up her last few weaknesses. I alluded to them last time, but it doesn’t hurt to tell you about it now, since she’s already past all that. She used to really focus in on one objective, such as getting a king with a particular checker, and therefore miss other moves she should be making. In fact, she used to focus almost exclusively on getting kings, but not really on using the kings she had. This sort of tied in to having trouble being aggressive with her kings at the endgame, running from your inferior numbers and allowing herself to get trapped in corners. Finally, you used to be able to make mistakes and she wouldn’t capitalize on them.

All of that is over now. Mastering those things has allowed her to improve at the more advanced skills. Now she’s looking ahead several moves into the future, and setting up traps. She is really, *really* good at setting up traps. In fact, she has a trap that she springs so often, Sara and I have named it “Evie’s Choice”. Somehow (and I seriously can’t understand how she manages it at least once per game), she maneuvers a king in between two of your kings, meaning that you can save one, but not both.

The fact that she sets up different traps than I do is fascinating to me. First off, she learned that one on her own, because nobody else runs it. Second off, is it something about her personality, or age, or brain structure that allows her to see these traps developing instead of other patterns which are obvious to me? Because I totally cannot see “Evie’s Choice” coming.

In any case, if you’re coming to play some checkers, you better plan on bringing your A-game.

The Music Man

/ Shane / 5 Comments

There is probably not a minute of my day in which I don’t have a song from the Music Man by Meredith Willson running through my head. We got the soundtrack for Christmas, and Evie has lately become obsessed with it.

I love musicals, but the Music Man was not one of mine. I know of it vaguely, having heard some of the songs (especially Gary Indiana and the Wells Fargo Wagon), and somehow knowing that this is a thing people like, but that’s about it. So I’m not really sure why we picked this one out of a hat, but I didn’t really expect it would take off as it has. Evie went through a huge Wicked phase (because I was going through a huge Wicked phase), but subsequent musicals were sort of meh. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music never really became favorites, and the Wizard of Oz soundtrack keeps in the rotation but never really had that, “play it again, play it again!” quality that the Music Man seems to have acquired.

The thing is, I have to hand it to the Music Man: turns out it is a mighty fine musical after all. I’m not ashamed to admit I really dig the songs, especially Rock Island and (Ya Got) Trouble. Even Ollie has been running around singing the songs (his favorite is Shipoopi, but he likes Marion the Librarian quite a bit as well). I doubt Evie could pick a favorite.

Evie has always excelled at picking up song lyrics, but she’s just about got the whole CD memorized. Picking up song lyrics happens to be a talent of mine as well, but she’s got me whipped. She doesn’t always understand the words she’s saying (at least she knows that “a woman who’ll kiss on the very first date is usually a hussy”), but she’s pretty impressive. The words are *so fast* in the Music Man, I can hardly believe she can follow along.

When I see her enjoying this so much, my consumer-instinct is to buy more musicals. However, I’ve convinced myself not to (although we already have one more in the pipeline). The thing is, when I was a kid, we were fanatical about Jesus Christ Superstar. Was it because this is the greatest musical of all time? No, it is not. But it’s the one we had; the one we listened to over and over again until we could sing the entire musical from memory, start to finish (and still can!). Musicals are like anything: having 5 or 10 at your fingertips doesn’t make you like musicals more, it makes you uninterested in musicals and full of ennui. Needless to say, I’m resisting the urge.

In the meantime, if you come slinking around here, expect to hear the big trombones and the rat-a-tat drums, big brass bass, big brass bass, and the piccolo, the piccolo coming out of the kitchen radio.

He’s a what? He’s a what? He’s a MUSIC man! And when the man dances, certainly boys, what else? The piper pays him!

Yessssss sir. Yessssss sir. Yessssssss sir.

Quote Monday is observant

/ Shane / Leave a comment

::Ollie building with duplos::
Ollie: That’s Gary, Indiana!”
Evie: “Where’s the smoke?”

Evie: “I think I would make a good queen from Swan Lake, because I’m very…bend-ful.”

Evie: “I’m so thirsty that my saliva is threatening my tongue, ‘If you don’t get me something to drink, I’m going to hit you!'”

Evie, seeing a building truss: “Look! It’s a slash-dot-com!” (In other words, it looked like a backslash.)

Fact.

/ Shane / Leave a comment

You want to learn some important truths? Our friends over at Verified Facts are serving up some truth bombs. Hurry over there before the Feds shut them down!

Here are a few of the verified facts. My friends, prepare to have your mind blown:

You might not think that there’s a link between the 2008 financial crash and most of the negative events you’ve experienced personally in your own life, but there is, and it’s real.

and:

Did you know that people with Rocky Mountain spotted fever are admitted to Harvard at half the rate that other people are, even when they have similar applications? Is this an example of the rich and powerful using their influence to keep their genetic pool “clean”? (The answer is yes.)

furthermore:

By tracking the shapes that nuclear power-smugglers’ secret trails leave in the deserts that line the US-Mexico border, we can easily tell that many of these criminals are in league with the Church of Scientology.

Oh, and by the way?

While excavating anthropological sites in Three Mile Island, rusty canteens from the Great Depression were found five feet below the surface. The logos on those canteens? “FEMA.” Everything we’ve been told about the past is a lie.

In all seriousness though, it’s amazing how simple it is to generate random conspiracy theories. This thing is quite brilliant. A couple of conspiracy-laden quotes, combined with a few find-and-replace lists of keywords (The Feds, FEMA, The Church of Scientology, financial crash, etc.) and a sprinkling of quotes such as

Our demands for transparency on this issue have largely been ignored.

And you’re in business. I really don’t think I could distinguish one of these auto-generated ones from an actual conspiracy rant.

Any particularly good ones you’ve found?