A friend and fellow cancer survivor, Leslie Tsui, mentioned to me that she had “set the record straight” with her kids after she was in remission. I loved that idea and shared the following my boys back in Sep 2019. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Paul and Sidd, my adventure with cancer clarified that only God knows what happens next. Therefore, I wanted to share some thoughts. NOW. 😊 1. Forgiveness: I forgive you guys for anything you have done or will do. 2. Luck: I am luckier than I can ever have envisioned… Read More
Posts in – Boys
Lego Party = Magically Focused 10 Year Olds
To celebrate Paul’s 10th birthday, we had a “Lego expert” come over and throw a Lego party. 6,000 bricks. 90 minutes of continuous instruction. Drills on the names of specific pieces. These boys were in the presence of one of their modern day shaman working the true magic of Lego as they had never seen before. Outcome: mesmerized, silent attention. No fart jokes. No crazed rampaging, wrestling, throwing, jumping. Not even a desire for Nintendo, Playstation, etc. Just hard core questions about why this piece and not that. Rapid iterating… Read More
Amazing Journey: Please, Avoid the Kid’s Menu
I know folks who will take their children to a fine dining establishment and then turn to the page of pedestrian choices like Chicken Fingers when it comes to choosing what their kids eat. Why? How does one go about expanding the horizons of young beings when in action you undertake such confining behavior? We have gone out of our way to establish a simple approach. “Take one Tyrannosaurus-sized bite of the items we order. Then really taste it, feel the texture, smell the aroma, look at the dish. Feel… Read More
Earning Your Success Thru Smart Homework
Paul and Sidd had the good fortune of joining the venerable Scouting tradition known as the “Pinewood Derby” back in March: transform a block of wood into a car body; decorate as you wish; nail on 4 wheels; race it down a glorified Hot Wheels track. Before embarking with them on this little adventure, I came across “Physics and the Pinewood Derby” – a DVD of lessons by a physics professor who is a Souts dad. It was a great $15 investment. The boys walked away understanding some nuanced concepts… Read More
“Infinity is the God of Numbers”
So my 7 year old Sidd and 8 year old Paul have been in hot pursuit of superlatives for several months. One that has left Paul particularly spellbound was my answer to “what’s the biggest number?” – – The notion of infinity has resulted in numerous follow-up questions. Finally he came up to me and said, “you know dad, I‘ve been thinking and since God is everything, and infinity is the biggest number, infinity is the God of numbers and zero is the devil.” When asked where zero fit in,… Read More
The Four Year Rule
When I was in my mid 20s I noticed I was suddenly interacting much more with my sister Cindy who is 6 years younger, but it was unclear as to why. Did she suddenly become smarter or was there more to it? After a lot of thought, I arrived at the “4 year rule” – that every 4 years our personas go thru a metamorphosis. As example, 3 and 7 year olds have nothing in common, nor 7 vs. 11, 11 vs. 15, even 15 vs. 19. The pace of… Read More
Diamonds in the Rough
It was bed time but Paul had one of those reflective questions, “Dad, why do we do so many things?” I figured I knew what Paul was referring to, but played dumb. Like what? “Well, we have to read, and play piano, and kick the soccer ball and other things. I don’t think we get enough time to relax, and you know, goof around like boys do” Once again his 8 year old introspective side had kicked in. Sidd concurred with ruffled eyebrows. I left them, got Molly’s wedding ring,… Read More
Polishing Diamonds: Never Order From the Kid’s Menu
How often have you seen the following: You are at a capable restaurant, with a menu renowned far and wide. But you notice the younger ones at the party next to you are eating chicken nuggets. From the kitchen freezer! Prepared in a microwave! Not the salmon cooked to a delectable nuance. Nor beef from some remote grassy pasture, or mushrooms good enough for a sitting president. Funny part is that we are at our most malleable when we are young. Yet we all too often pass on the chance… Read More
Why Photography?
In the 4th grade, my father brought home a used Mamiya Sekor range-finder camera, of all things, from a medical conference. I never did ask where he picked it up, but he took time on the very day of his arrival to share his thoughts on how photos come to be. Since then, photography has been a persistent part of my journeys, like a slow burning ember that at times will pop into a flame before returning back to a quiet glow. But why photography, rather than some other pursuit? … Read More
Chuttumbee 2 Turns 6
One possible measure of how young at heart you are – – how carefully you track your upcoming birthday. Sidd followed his 6th the way the FAA monitors a 777 coming in from London; or how NORAD would have watched an ICBM coming in from Siberia. (I fear I am repeating an earlier post.) “Only 73 more days left dad….” 18 days later, “Dad, there’s only 55 days left to my birthday. Are you watching?” Well the momentous day came in 3 stages: First a party in Atlanta at the… Read More