Poor kid.
Clone has steadily been getting worse through out the day. He seemed okay this morning, but as the day went on, the grouchier he became. He complained he didnÂ’t feel good and that his cheek and tummy hurt. I feel bad for the poor guy. ThereÂ’s not a lot of anything I can do. HeÂ’s been getting his medication on schedule, but I donÂ’t know if thatÂ’s helping any.
HeÂ’s lying on the couch crying right now. I wish there was something/anything I could do to comfort him, but nothing I do seems to work. For most of the day IÂ’ve sat on the couch with him watching movies and TV. WeÂ’ve seen Curious George and Cars, along with various Nickelodeon cartoons.
To all of you stay home mothers out there, are the kids cartoons this bad all the time? IÂ’m just wondering, because these were even more stupid then I normally find kids cartoons.
IÂ’ve tried getting Clone to take a nap, but he wonÂ’t. IÂ’ve even tried laying down and taking a nap with him. A nap could do me good today, but even with that he wouldnÂ’t go to sleep. I just donÂ’t know, itÂ’s hard to see your kids feeling bad and not able to do anything about it.
1
I *hate* Rx antibiotics - they're often some pretty harsh stuff.
Since he's so advanced in his symptoms, it's almost closing the barn door after the horse is out, but you might shorten the length of his suffering this way...
If you have a nutritionist (health food) store nearby, grab some Olive Leaf Extract. Sublingual is probably faster-acting (especially if it's difficult to swallow pills) but the taste will probably make him hurl. You'd definitely only trick him ONCE! (Even I won't take the liquid - blecch!)
For the pinkeye and earache, I'd recommend Colloidal Silver - topical. The two working together ought to put the little guy straight in no time (OLE will help the external conditions as well).
I'm not a granola-nuts-twigs-and-bark kinda guy - but someone turned me onto these two in my darkest hours of suffering a few years ago. I've been sold on 'em ever since... Skeptical? Good. Do the research yourself!
I will say that since Mrs. Who spends her days with little rugrat-vectors, she tends to bring a lot of crap home with her. I used to get sick whenever there was an outbreak in her classroom. Now, whenever I'm aware that I've been around someone who is sick, or if I feel like I *may* be coming down with something, or if I'm in a situation like, say, being stuck in an AIRPLANE full of coughing idiots - I take Olive Leaf, and maybe spray my eyes, throat and sinuses with Colloidal Silver. It saves me from getting sick nearly every time.
(I even tried c.silver internally when I got food poisoning one time - I was fine in no time at all. Internal use of colloidal silver is a bit more dodgy, however.)
For cold symptoms, I've tried Zinc with little or no overall 'dramatic' success. Of course combined with vitamins C and E it's better, but still not as effective as olive leaf and silver...
Mrs. Who used to be skeptical - now she's hooked on my "voodoo" too!
Posted by: Bitterroot at February 16, 2007 06:11 PM (9FXen)
At least he's not puking.
IÂ’m home from work today. Clone is a sick boy. It started out with him getting sick Tuesday night. On Valentines day morning Ktreva had to stay home with him as he was feeling not well at all and had a temp. When I got home from work on Wednesday Ktreva tells me Clone also has Pink Eye. GreatÂ… Well he canÂ’t go to daycare with pink eye so Ktreva stays home with him again yesterday.
When I got out of a meeting at work, there was a message for me in my voicemail. Ktreva was able to get Clone in to see our family doctor. He told her that Clone has an upper respiratory infection AND an ear infection on top of everything else.
Getting older
Ktreva has been telling me for years I need to start watching what I eat. Not because I’m a fat bastard, but because of various health reasons… including my still undiagnosed medical condition. (Yea, I’m loving doctors). I’ve heard her say on occasion, “You can’t eat the crap you did when you were younger anymore.” She’s worried I’ll have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or some funky self-digesting disease. Er, um, scratch that last one.
Anyway I’m starting to think she may be right. When I was younger I could spend a weekend eating chips and salsa, drinking beer, and hitting some fast food joint for a middle of the night feast. I’d wake up the next morning and be just fine. This weekend I think she has her empirical evidence that she was right, unlike those Global Warming scientists. (Bastiches! It’s –15 when I left for work with a –30 windchill!).
It all started Friday night. I had Pizza and Beer for dinner, which was followed on Saturday with more pizza, pizza rolls, chips, beer and Scotch. On Sunday I had Beer, pickled herring, lilÂ’smokies in hot n spicy Bar-b-que sauce, deviled eggs, boneless hot wings, chips, and some pumpkin dipÂ… oh and beer. Monday I headed back over to help finish off the keg and the leftovers from the Super Bowl. That night on the way home I stopped and got me a baby head sized burrito.
Today I the most foul human on the face of the earth, it feels like my colon is trying to squirt all of my insides out. Fortunately, itÂ’s all the consistency of applesauce so it doesnÂ’t hurt too badly. IÂ’ve had to use the restroom at work no less then four times. Each time there was at least one other man in there. Each time I heard a statement of exclamation over the horrid scent.
I would have enjoyed it more if it werenÂ’t for the fact that my arse was on fire.
There's one for the counselor.
Something happened last night that I just canÂ’t put words to. IÂ’m still a little scarred from the whole thing. Since itÂ’s happened Boopie really hasnÂ’t been able to look me in the eye. Last night I walked into BoopieÂ’s room and well, IÂ’m going to let this song tell the story for me.
Warning: Language and song lyrics NSFW. Don't play unless you have headsets on and small ones can't hear.
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but I would have preferred to catch that, oh uh, never!
Now excuse me, I'm going to go try to drink the mental image out of my brain.
Hair of a different color.
Ktreva is running a poll on what color she should dye her hair. My wife is practically perfect in every way, I really donÂ’t think she needs to color her hair. Yet I know she is going to do it. So for the love of all that is good and right in the world, go over and pick bright red. Do it for me, cÂ’mon. You know you want to.
Soft my bruised body!
A word of advice for all the parents out there; Just because the box says Soft Air, it doesnÂ’t mean the little plastic BBs come out softly.
For Christmas Boopie received a soft air handgun, shotgun and M-16 (fully Automatic). I figured these would be good starter firearms to get him used to modern firearm safety. We even gave him an electronic target system so he could practice his aim. Thinking these couldnÂ’t be that dangerous, I didnÂ’t see how it would hurt anything. I mean cÂ’mon, they are spring-loaded firearms that shoot plastic BBs. WhatÂ’s the worst that could happen?
A series of BB sized bruises all over me is what could happen! And before you go yelling, “You shouldn’t be shooting each other with the guns”, we weren’t. I was catching ricochets off of the targeting system. Hell the shotgun is strong enough to have broken the plastic backing on the target box. I put up a backdrop to keep the little plastic BBs from going everywhere, but they would ricochet off of that. I was hit in the leg arm and shoulder. Those little buggers hurt. Hell, one stray shot may or may not have broken a window in a neighbor’s garage.
IÂ’m just glad I bought him protective eyewear. We donÂ’t want him to shoot his eye out.
Posted by: Graumagus at December 27, 2006 11:20 AM (8P21O)
2
You must bruise like a ripe bananna...giggle...snicker...
Posted by: spurs at December 27, 2006 03:43 PM (3lsFM)
3
Oh we already knew that, that's why when we got one for Ringo all the boys got eye protection and anyone out there with him when he's shooting at the targets has to be wearing eye protection. My son's buddies all have these air soft guns. To me it is a GREAT opportunity for us to hammer home all the gun safety rules.
Posted by: Bou at December 27, 2006 10:40 PM (KkohC)
4
Yep. I'm getting Elderspawn one. He has some BB guns, but we have to shoot in the basement (damn subdivision rules!) and it's less likely to bust a window than the 650+ fps single shot that will shatter a window at 200 yards. Contagion knows of the gun I speak of and knows it will bust a window at quite a distance...
And that's all I'm going to say about that
Posted by: Graumagus at December 29, 2006 12:39 PM (8P21O)
Ginger Bread Houses.
We had a full weekend here in the Contagion family house. Saturday Ktreva and I took Clone to do some Christmas shopping. Folks let me give you some advice, if you are going to go shopping at crowded stores with packed parking lots; donÂ’t drive the extra long pickup truck. With almost no available spaces and people parking like idiots, itÂ’s really hard to navigate in and out of the spaces. At a local Best Buy store not only are the spaces narrow so they can squeeze more cars in, the lanes are narrow as well.
When we came out of the store I had two cars parked so close to me I could barely get the doors open wide enough to climb in. I also had to make a 54-point maneuver to get out of the stall with out hitting anyone. ThatÂ’s with me getting less then an inch away from the cars around me.
After shopping we took Clone to Midway Village for a Victorian Christmas Traditions show. It wasnÂ’t exactly what I thought it was going to be, I was hoping for more into the Victorian era customs surrounding Christmas. They did go into some, but it was more of a fun thing for kids. At the different buildings the kids were able to do different Christmas crafts. At the Printers, Clone was able to make a Christmas calling card with his name on it with an authentic 1800Â’s printing press. The Hardware Store had curled paper snowflakes. In the bank Clone made a Christmas ornament out of candy, string and tissue paper. Which was fun at first, but he got bored with rather quickly when we wouldnÂ’t let him eat the candy.
In the Blacksmith shop he properly told people what the smith was doing, much to the surprise of the smith. I just explained weÂ’re re-enactors and he sees smithing all the time. We skipped the cornhusk dolls and the yarn angels. Clone really had no desire to do any. At the hospital he had cookies with Father Christmas, AKA Santa Clause. Except it was the historical Father Christmas. He was tall, thin and wearing a green coat. Not the Coke-a-cola version we are all used to today.
In the houses they had them all decorated for a Victorian Christmas. The trees had candles, bows, and homemade ornaments. There was garland ropes and holly held in place with red bows and ribbons. It was really neat to see. At the last house we stopped in they were making gingerbread houses. I wish they had gone into some history behind gingerbread houses, but when I asked one of the volunteers she looked at me as if I had asked her to list pi to the 874 place. Clone had a lot of fun with this. He made his very first, and probably last, gingerbread house. I think what he had the most fun with was making a mess.
Yes, thatÂ’s frosting and not glue holding it together.
I know; thatÂ’s a lot of frosting.
For once Clone actually sat down and did a craft for almost 30 minutes. He had fun smearing the real frosting (Egg whites, powdered sugar and cream of tartar) which was great until the frosting dried. At that point it hardens into a concrete like substance. That is why they use it for gingerbread houses. Its mortar you can eat.
We finished our day at the village with a horse drawn sleigh/wagon ride around the village. It was a little cold, but with all of us huddled together under lap blanket it really gave you that winter sleigh ride feeling. The horses even had jingle bells.
After we left there we bought a Christmas tree. We set a record this year. We found the perfect tree in less then 5 minutes of arriving. Clone is very excited over having a tree in the house. Now the fun of keeping him away from it starts.
1
I took the spawn there last year while it was snowing and bitter cold. That sleigh ride was invigorating! The kids had fun with the gingerbread houses and seeing father christmas too!
Posted by: maranda rites at December 11, 2006 06:44 PM (8P21O)
2
Umm. I wasn't thinking "That's a lot of frosting". i was thinking "That's a lot of marshmellows"! ;-)
Posted by: Bou at December 11, 2006 08:57 PM (iHxT3)
3
Maybe he'll build houses when he grows up. *grin* Glad he had such a good time.
Oh yeah, next time take Ktreva's van to Christmas shop, you'll be much happier. ;-)
Posted by: Teresa at December 11, 2006 10:09 PM (gsbs5)
4
OOO, fun! so Gingerbread was on the menu for us both this weekend!
Posted by: oddybobo at December 12, 2006 08:00 AM (mZfwW)
Only Clone.
Ktreva is getting ready for Christmas. Decorations and pictures are going up around the house. There is now a picture of Clone when he was one sitting on SantaÂ’s lap next to the computer. IÂ’m sitting here catching up on some of the blogs I read when Clone comes up to see what IÂ’m doing. Right away he notices the picture of himself with Santa. He starts doing the excited hop. All the parents out there that have or had children that where this age know exactly what IÂ’m talking about.
With all the glee and excitement that only a three year old seeing Santa can muster, her yells out. “Look Dad, it’s me and the Ho-Ho!!”
Preparing
The in-laws are coming to town for Thanksgiving. That means itÂ’s time to clean the house from top to bottomÂ… They are going to be here tomorrow and we havenÂ’t started yet.
1
Well, just think, if you had done those try-outs like you wanted to... you could be doing all this cleaning with screaming muscles and maybe a broken bone or two . Instead, you only have to worry about being sore from all the cleaning. *grin*
Posted by: Teresa at November 21, 2006 07:58 PM (gsbs5)
So much for the alarm.
I donÂ’t even know how to start this post. Something happened tonight that I just didnÂ’t expect tonight and it scared the living daylights out of me. I was in the kitchen getting Clone something to drink when there was a knocking at the front door. Before I had a chance to answer it, Clone ran to the door. He unlocked the deadbolt and let a guy into the house.
The guy was trying to deliver a pizza. We hadnÂ’t ordered a pizza. It didnÂ’t take long to figure out he had the wrong house; he meant to go to the neighbors. After he was on his way I scolded Clone for answering the door and explained that he is NEVER to answer the door, he is to get either Ktreva or myself.
Fortunately this turned out to be nothing, but the thought of him letting some stranger into the house scared the ever-loving shite out of me. I know he has seen Ktreva or I answer the door a thousand times, and was just doing what he thought was right. Even after explaining it to him, I donÂ’t think he understood the gravity of the situation. IÂ’ve been raking my brain thinking of things I could do to prevent this from happening again and IÂ’m coming up with a blank. We have a chain on the door that is high enough he canÂ’t reach it, but that isnÂ’t always the solution. Like tonight, Ktreva was on her way home, and chaining the door would have locked her out of the house. ItÂ’s just not practical to use the chain every time we shut the door.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate them. Until then, IÂ’m thinking weÂ’ll just have to suck it up and use the chain. The next time he might let in the local homeless guy that comes around every couple of weeks looking for a hand out. The last thing I want to do is to try and wrestle him out of the house.
2
Unless you wanted to install a deadbolt high enough that he can't reach, I'm afraid you're stuck with either leaving the chain on or being ready to jump before he does.
He won't ever "get it" at his age, it's beyond his ability to reason. Which is why stay at home moms with young ones consider it a miracle if they get one thing done daily on a list of hundreds of items. They're always jumping after the kids to keep them from doing stuff.
Posted by: Teresa at November 17, 2006 09:16 PM (gsbs5)
3
Unless you get a touch pad type doorknob, the chain is the only way to go.
Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 18, 2006 09:19 AM (Hn1Gg)
4
Get a double key deadbolt that needs to be keyed from the inside to get out when it is locked. You can install that in place of the regular deadbolt, and then you will need the key to open the door from the inside, but Ktreva could also unlock it from the outside.
Go to your local hardware store and talk to them. I'm sure that there are a number of possible solutions....
Posted by: caltechgirl at November 18, 2006 12:53 PM (r0kgl)
5
Yeah, everybody has good suggestions here. HE is just too young to understand the dangers out there...
Posted by: Richmond at November 19, 2006 06:07 PM (e8QFP)
6
A backhand to the head worked pretty well on me.
Posted by: Ogre at November 20, 2006 02:12 PM (oifEm)
Weekend in review.
Sorry, I havenÂ’t been around. ItÂ’s been a busy weekend for me. Friday night I went to an Ice HogÂ’s game. They are a local minor league hockey team. IÂ’m not a fan of hockey, I just wanted to go hang with some friends and drink beer. Which we did, we ended up leaving the boring game early and went to a bar to harass a co-worker that bartends there. Ahh, good times!
Saturday the family and I day tripped it to Fort Obie, a re-enactment in Colona Illinois. IT was a nice little event. All week I had my doubts about going, I wasnÂ’t feeling the best and all. Ktreva kept being adamant about our going. Come to find out that she custom ordered a knife for me in August with the agreement sheÂ’d pick it up at Fort Obie. Then the River Scum finally convinced me to attempt to join the ONW (Old Northwest Company). ItÂ’s a loosely organized group of re-enactors. IÂ’m actually pretty honored they wanted me. IÂ’m not a member yet, there are steps one has to follow in order to become a member, but IÂ’m on my way.
Sunday we went and visited Tammi for some Football and conversation. True to her nature, she refused to just let us munch on chips and frozen pizza while watching the game. She made her legendary Mexican Manicotti, had some appetizers and then she even made a pie from scratch, a peanut butter pie. People, that had to be one of, if not the best pies IÂ’ve had. It was absolutely delicious! If you ever get a chance to try it, youÂ’d be a fool not to.
Sunday night I ended up going over to a friendÂ’s house to watch the Oakland Vs Denver game. Monday night I was back over there for the Bears Vs. Cardinals game. If any of you turned off that game before the end, you missed one hell of a game. It started out boring, but it turned real good in the fourth quarter. The Bears squeaked out a win due to the grace of their defense.
Monday was BossÂ’ day as well. My unit actually went out of their way to get me a card and a gift certificate for a nice restaurant in town. I donÂ’t take gift getting too well, so they really loved watching me turn beet red in embarrassment. They were still talking about it today.
Tonight I have to pack for Trail of History. ItÂ’s our last re-enactment of the season. Both Ktreva and I love this event and look forward to it every year. The thing we donÂ’t like about this event is that it is the last event of our season. That means it will be six months before we are able to see some of our friends again. Due to my health this year, IÂ’m not going to participate in the battle. IÂ’m even thinking of not bringing my musket.
ItÂ’s supposed to be cold and rainy with a chance of snow. We kind of figured that was going to happen, this event is taking place later in the year than normal. It always takes place the third full weekend of October. That usually means itÂ’s usually around Oct 16-18. Since October first fell on a Sunday, itÂ’s happening the 21 and 22. IÂ’m really glad my demonstration is distilling. ItÂ’s hard to get too cold keeping a fire going under a large copper still.
38-0
Sorry I didnÂ’t get back with everyone yesterday. Boopie's game went much better then planned. They won 38 to 0. Boopie even made two huge plays. He recovered an onside kicked and made two tackles that would have allowed the other team to score. After the game the whole team was ecstatic over their win.
That was until they found out that they werenÂ’t going to be in the playoffs. The school district changed how many teams were going to be in the playoffs and BoopieÂ’s team would have had to score two more points in order to take the last spot. Fortunately that didnÂ’t take away from the win. The boys were just happy they won a second game and that they blew out the other team.
Boopie is already planning on trying out for the football team next year when he goes to High School.
...And let him get a touchdown too!
IÂ’m off to BoopieÂ’s last regular season game of the year. Please, pray for a win. His team is 1-6 and going up against the only team that has a worse record then they do. For some goofy mathematical reason, this game is actually important. If his team wins they will be the 7th place team (out of
, if they lose they will be the 8th place, ie last, in the conference.
If they win, they actually get into the playoffs. If they lose, they donÂ’t. HeÂ’s been taking the loses rather hard, and I would at least like to see him make the playoffs. Plus he has more fun when he wins and IÂ’d like to see him actually enjoy two of their games.
1
Fingers crossed and doing the whup-ass dance.
Good Luck Boopie!!
Posted by: spurs at October 11, 2006 03:38 PM (XB/Ou)
2
I'm too late to wish him luck... so how'd it go? Young son was on a really crappy baseball team one year - I know exactly how you feel. Maybe next year will be better. Especially now that he knows what's required to play. :-)
Posted by: Teresa at October 11, 2006 06:03 PM (jgXyO)
Anniversery over.
We finally arrived back in town. We had a good weekend, it would have been better if the Packers either A) Rayner hadnÂ’t missed a field goal or the Pack hadnÂ’t fumbled on that last drive costing them the game. It was still a good game and we had a lot of fun.
I just couldnÂ’t believe how upset North Korea was over the loss. Who would have thought that the N. Koreans would detonate a Nuclear Weapon upon receiving word that the Packers lost. ThatÂ’s just some crazy stuff there.
Educating the Clone
Clone is growing up so fast. He started school last Thursday. Well, pre-school, but still school. Ktreva took Boopie to get some new school clothes. While they where out Boopie decided that Clone should have a shirt like BoopieÂ’s for the first day of school. Which was a pretty good idea since Clone is in that stage that he wants to do everything his brother does. In the mornings I have to pack Boopie a lunch, I need to make Clone one too, even if he doesnÂ’t go to school that day. (ItÂ’s just a banana in a bag)
Clone and Boopie before school
Ktreva took some time off of work to take Clone to school the first day. She wanted to see him off and get some pictures. From what she says, Clone had a great time and was really excited. When she picked him up, he was mad at having to leave. Apparently he enjoyed school. Then again, when I was his age I enjoyed school too. It wasnÂ’t until they started teaching me things like Trigonometry that I really started hating it.
Clone and his Teachers
IÂ’m glad he enjoyed school, which makes it easier to take him then if he doesnÂ’t like it. However, I wish he didnÂ’t like it so much. HeÂ’s constantly asking to go to school. ItÂ’s kind of annoying.
1
Join the club, man! Last year, Youngerspawn left for school at almost the same time as Elderspawn. THis year he has afternoon pre-school. So for the last week every single morning I have a three year old in tears because his brother gets to go to school and he doesn't.
Posted by: Graumagus at September 09, 2006 08:34 AM (C99u6)
2
And I'm sure he's already flirted his way right to the center of those teachers hearts. Damn, he gets me every time with that smile and those eyes...
So glad he's enjoying it. MUCH easier than if you have to force them every day!
Posted by: Tammi at September 09, 2006 12:24 PM (3UQTn)
3
Congrats!!! tot cries when he goes and then cries when he has to leave. He just hates it when he can't get his way.
Posted by: vw bug at September 09, 2006 12:37 PM (1wVJS)
Set backs.
Clone has been doing good with potty training, until today. HeÂ’s gone almost 2 weeks with out an accident. Then today he wet himself twice. Once he was trying to get to the bathroom at the daycare but another kid was in there and he couldnÂ’t hold it any longer. The other was just him not going.
That, however, is not the worst of it. After I got him home tonight everything was fine, then he said he had to go potty and off he went. He’d been in the bathroom for 10 minutes and I knew something was up. When I walked in he looks at me and says, “I did a poop in the potty!” Well there was poop in the potty, but there was also poop on the seat, on the side all over his pants and underwear. He must have pooped his pants and tried to get it in the toilet to try to cover it up.
His fecal creation did not want to cooperate. It looked like he was playing with brown Playdoh and had it everywhere. I donÂ’t know what was worse; trying to clean it off of the toilet or off of him. The scene was almost reminiscent of another incident we had last year.
Boopie's big game.
Boopie had his first football game last night. He had aspirations of being a running back; at this time the coaches have him playing special teams. HeÂ’s on the kicking teams, both kicking and returns. HeÂ’s not a kicker; heÂ’s one of the blockers/defenders. HeÂ’s a little disappointed, but he has a good attitude about it. HeÂ’s happy heÂ’s getting to play on the varsity team.
Here he is in the thick of a play. HeÂ’s number 13, the short one kind of left of center in the blue.
He did a pretty good job, he was in the right place at the right times. He also tried to make a couple of big plays. Unfortunately, most of the other players are bigger then he is and he was more of speed bump then anything else. Which does help in slowing down the other team. There was one play where he was trying to get to the other teams returner. A kid that was about 50 pounds heavier and 8 inches taller laid a hit on him that sent Boopie flying back 3 yards. I was about 40 yards away from the play and I could hear the hit clear as a bell. I kid you not when I say Boopie bounced when he hit the ground. He hit and bounced up a good 5 inches.
The first thing that went through my head was, “I’m damn glad Ktreva was taking Clone to the bathroom and didn’t see that hit.” The second was, “I don’t think he’s going to get up after that.” Folks, let me tell you something, the boy surprised me. He’s a small guy, but he can take the hit. Being quick and agile, he was back up on his feet. The defender that hit him had left him for dead on the field. Boopie was able to get to the returner and slow him down enough so that one of his teammates could get in and make the tackle.
I was proud of him. He took his lumps, and shrugged it off with out thinking about it during the game. After the game is a different story, but IÂ’ll take that. He knew that during the game was not time to complain or show weakness. During tonightÂ’s practice, the assistant coach used him as an example of how to handle a hard hit during the game. His team ended up losing, which he took rather badly. We had a talk about good sportsmanship. Being a good sport isnÂ’t just about not bragging when you win, but accepting it when you lose. You learn from the loss and try to improve, not complain about it.
just typed in "boopie" to see what came up. It is the nickname of my son.
just wondering how you came by this name. It is a very special nickname, not sure how I landed on your site.
I am wondering if your "boopie" is as special as mine.
joyce
Posted by: joyce at September 19, 2006 11:26 PM (JThPJ)
Growing pains.
Poor Boopie. As you recall he decided to play tackle football this year. For the last week and a half the coach has been running practice 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Now that school has started, he is cutting it down to 2 hours a day still 6 days a week. Boopie being one of the video game generations is not used to all this physical activity. Since Tuesday he has been complaining of soreness in his calf muscle.
IÂ’m pretty sure the boy is suffering from a bad case of lactic acidosis. Especially since the pain is gradually going away. Boopie just doesnÂ’t take to pain or soreness too well. IÂ’ve told him that he needs to listen to the coach and do everything he says, even if he doesnÂ’t want to. During practice he muscles were so sore that between plays he was kneeling down. The coach told him to stop kneeling and stand. After the next play, Boopie kneeled down again. Once more the coach told him to stop kneeling between plays, if he does it again heÂ’s going to take a lap. So guess what Boopie does two plays later? ThatÂ’s right, he kneels down. The coach has him run a lap around the field.
He was not happy about having to do that at all. On the ride home he was complaining about it. I just pointed out, “If you had listened to me about listening to the coach and doing what he says, you would not have had to run the lap. So who’s fault do you think it was that you had to take a lap?” Boopie, “The Coach.” Me, “No, it was yours. He told you not to do something and you did it anyway. He told you what the consequence was going to be if you did it again, and you did it anyway. You made a conscious choice to disobey the coach. It’s your fault.” Boopie, “But my legs hurt, and he didn’t care.” Me, “You’re right he didn’t care, because he’s also a football player and he knows the best way to get the soreness out is to work it out, not rest and let the lactic acid build back up in your muscles.”
Needless to say, Boopie is sitting in the other room lamenting his decision to kneel in the middle of practice. Now if I could only get him to quit whining about his muscles being sore.
Boopie the football star.
Boopie has decided he is going to play football for the school this year, which I have mixed feelings about. Until he decided to play Flag football this summer, he really showed no interest in playing football.
For the last couple of years he has been playing soccer. He hasnÂ’t been the greatest player on the field, but he was decent. I went to games to support him, but I never got into soccer. During the games I would get lost as to what was going on. To be honest I think soccer is a boring game that is used as a punishment in third world countries for lusting after your neighborÂ’s dog. When Boopie said he wanted to play football, I was elated. ItÂ’s a sport I can follow and enjoy. I can go to the games, support my son and know whether or not he did something wrong.
On the other hand IÂ’m afraid for my sonÂ’s life. This is full tackle football, not flag football. At practice yesterday I saw some of the kids heÂ’s going to be playing with and against. Some of these kids look like they have been playing football for years now. A couple of them look like they could bench 150; remember these are 12-13 year olds. Boopie on the other hand is small for his age. HeÂ’s generally the shortest kid in his class, and I think he weighs 65 pounds soaking wet. When unloading the car after grocery shopping he has a problem lifting a 12 pack of pop.
When talking to him about football, I made sure he understood this was tackle football, not flag. I explained that these kids are going to be doing everything in their power to tackle him. (He wants to be a running back) His response to me is that he won’t get tackled, he’s “too fast and agile”. He has convinced himself that no one will be able to catch him. I’m pretty sure that in his head he is spending his signing bonus he gets for going pro after college.
While at practice I watched him compete for a running back position. Much to his chagrin, he was not the fastest boy on the field, and definitely not the most agile. Plus the two boys that I saw who where faster and more agile then him, where also bigger and stronger. When they where running scrimmage plays I witnessed Boopie get tackled by his own offensive line not once, but twice. He ran into them and fell to the ground.
IÂ’m trying to be a supportive parent, and I want him to enjoy the game, but I donÂ’t think the boy is running back material. WeÂ’ve talked and IÂ’m going to work with him, and try to get some weights for him to work with, but I donÂ’t know if itÂ’s going to help this seasonÂ… or next. I just hope that Boopie doesnÂ’t experience his first broken bones this year.
1
Let him take his lumps. He'll learn a valuable lesson the first time he gets tackled. Probably a number of them. And really, a broken bone isn't the end of the world. I mean, hell, we ALL broke something as kids.
And more than that, I think it's important for you to support his decision to be challenged.
I think it will be good for him.
Posted by: caltechgirl at August 17, 2006 05:45 PM (/vgMZ)
2
Believe it or not, CTG, I never broke any bones until I was an adult... I've no idea how that happened.
Getting smacked good a few times will help him learn, to grow. And then there's football. Heheheh... j/k. Seriously, it may be a good thing to fire him up. Or it may dissuade him.
Glad to help.
Posted by: That 1 Guy at August 17, 2006 08:38 PM (8pWv9)
3
Oh, Him getting hurt isn't the end of the world. Listening to him whine about it for 8 weeks is just annoying. He doesn't take to pain very well. He once had a sliver and lamented the angishing pain of it for a week and a half.
Posted by: Contagion at August 17, 2006 08:43 PM (0m/ho)
Posted by: BloodSpite at August 18, 2006 06:19 PM (i81Vx)
6
I wonder would would be more dangerous - getting tackled by boys 3 times his weight... or boys 3 times his weight finding out that his nickname is "Boopie"
Posted by: Shadoglare at August 18, 2006 07:11 PM (3hCgX)
7
There are huge differences - as you've noticed between 12 and 13 year old boys. 13 is generally the age of the "growth spurt" for most of them (young son grew 6 inches that year).
At the very least, this will teach him that he won't win at everything and he has to practice to get better. Whether or not he likes it well enough to take his lumps and try to improve... that's up to him.
Have I mentioned lately how happy I am that my kids are grown and I don't have to go through this any more... *grin*
Posted by: Teresa at August 18, 2006 08:51 PM (o4pJS)
8
Ya know, being young, white, & gangly, he might have a future as a kicker :-)
Posted by: Harvey at August 21, 2006 06:09 PM (L7a63)
9
I'd love to get Elderspawn involved in football... right now all he's involved in is Playstation...
Hmmm, maybe I need to pick up Madden 2007...
Posted by: Graumagus at August 22, 2006 12:49 PM (jAFT/)
More joys of parenting.
WeÂ’ve been working on potty-training Clone for a while now. Today for the first time we put him in underwear instead of pull-ups. HeÂ’s been good about telling us when he has to poop. HeÂ’ll tell us if he has to peeÂ… when heÂ’s not busy having too much fun. HeÂ’s also been waking up dry in the mornings.
We figured this was as good of time as any to try him in actual “big boy” underwear. So far today we’ve had two “accidents”. To be honest there was nothing accidental about it. He just didn’t want to go to the bathroom.
IÂ’ve potty-trained Boopie, I can potty-train Clone. I just forgot how annoying it was.
1
I haven't forgotten, just not teaching Tot... how about I send him your way?
Posted by: vw bug at August 15, 2006 06:30 PM (BGAHh)
2
Yeah, let's hope he doesn't take after his brother in those regards :/
Posted by: Shadoglare at August 15, 2006 09:20 PM (QLQ2w)
3
Heh - brings back the memories... Young son refused to potty train - when he was 3 - I finally had it - took him out of diapers and let him figure it out. Took about 2 days for him to realize that peeing in his pants wasn't very fun in winter - makes the pants legs cold. Better luck to you with Clone. *grin*
Posted by: Teresa at August 15, 2006 09:38 PM (o4pJS)
Posted by: BloodSpite at August 16, 2006 01:05 AM (i81Vx)
5
Point and laugh, that's what I'd do . . . Ok, so I wouldn't inflict that much damage on my kid, but Teresa's idea worked with me. Let him walk around in wet undies and he'll get the picture. I did tell the Boy that the power rangers didn't like to get peed on though. He thought that was funny.
Posted by: oddybobo at August 16, 2006 07:44 AM (6Gm0j)
6
Doing the same thing with the granddaughter- gads, I thought I had paid my dues already. So far she points to her dad's crotch and says "poop", so I guess we're making progress.
Still have venison!!!!
Posted by: Raging Mom at August 18, 2006 11:19 AM (l+Chn)
, if they lose they will be the 8th place, ie last, in the conference. 
