Category Archives: Mr. Boy

Staying inside

Posted on June 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Staying inside

This seems to be something of a problem for kids in some parts of the U.S., but not around here:

"’Kids don’t think about going outside like they used to, and unless there is some scheduled activity, I don’t think they know what to do outdoors anymore,’ Pelzman said."

Even when the temperature is in the 90s, as it has been for the last week or so, Mr. Boy still enjoys playing catch in the backyard, bouncing his basketball on the patio, or throwing a frisbee. He’s usually the one to suggest a swim. Having a pool probably contributes to his willingness to be outside, since he has the usual distractions of television & computer games to keep him indoors. Having parks nearby also helps. I do remember one of his 6-year-old buddies, on a Cub Scout weekend camping trip last fall, complaining that he’d rather be at home watching television. The others ignored him and went crashing through the woods hunting "space aliens."

Via Instapundit 

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Happy Father’s Day

Posted on June 17, 2007 | Comments Off on Happy Father’s Day

I got the wish on the phone from Mr. B. who was preparing for a bath, after a hard day of picnicing, volleyball and chasing fireflies at his mother’s family reunion. Of course I had my day a week early, so I’ve had plenty of time to check out this pdf of the 1913 book "Training the Boy." (The author, William Arch McKeever, wrote "Training The Girl," in 1919) He encourages Boy Scout membership, and we’ve begun that with Cub Scouts. One piece of advice I can’t follow, however, is the recommendation that, if at all possible, you must be sure to get him a pony. Sorry, I’m not into horses. How about a sloop?

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The egg toss

Posted on June 16, 2007 | Comments Off on The egg toss

Mr. Boy won the egg toss today at mom’s family reunion in mountainous western Maryland, where mornings have been in the 50s lately. He and his cousins were chasing fire flies this evening until it got too chilly. Tomorrow he’ll go see an uncle’s model train setup. He left his faithful spirit animal, the stuffed elephant Ms. El, here instead of taking her along, for the first time I recall. He’s growing up.

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Father’s Day

Posted on June 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Father’s Day

Mine came early, last Sunday, in fact, because Mr. Boy and mom flew off to Maryland the other day for a family reunion this weekend. I didn’t go essentially because I don’t like to travel and I had other things to do, such as finish preparing the sloop for summer sailing. I don’t get ties, fortunately, because I don’t wear them often. Instead I got a book store gift card, a book analysing the Harry Potter series, which Mr. B. and I have been reading, and a new pair of swimming trunks. It seems most appropriate, however, to prepare to spend the actual day renewing my ideas of how to raise a son, training him in the manly virtues while trying to temper them to keep him from being booted out of school for misbehavior. Girls, his mother often says, cooperate, and we see evidence of that all the time. Boys, on the other hand, compete. They have the Cowboy Gene, as Tony Woodlief puts it, and require a different touch.

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Crisis averted

Posted on June 12, 2007 | Comments Off on Crisis averted

Day camp called for me to come pick up Mr. Boy early this afternoon as he was feeling sick and his temperature had "shot up" to 102. He was ice-cold when I got there, crying, a little disoriented. Got him home and took his temp and it was 103 and climbing. Got his age group’s dose of grape-flavored Motrin in him, and gave him a cold washrag for his forehead. By now he was hot all over and his head hurt. His temp climbed to 103.9 and I started thinking about an emergency room or even calling EMS. Mom was taking meetings at work and was hard to reach. She advised calling his doctor’s nurse for advice. By the time the nurse called back Mr. B.’s temp was down to 102 and falling. After we got off the phone, it was down to 100.3. I got him to eat a popsicle and drink some Sprite. He’s been dozing for the last few hours. We have a doctor’s appointment at 9 tomorrow morning. Some kids get sick like this and recover quickly. He usually doesn’t recover quickly.

UPDATE This time he did, although he had a slight fever this morning. Doc said it was probably a virus. 

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Camp Shalom

Posted on June 8, 2007 | Comments Off on Camp Shalom

Mr. Boy concluded his first week of day camp at the J this afternoon, still as enthusiastic as he was after the first day. I ask about it, of course, but I just get snips and bits of the experience, usually on the way home. Today, in addition to swimming and crafts and tug-of-war, they had a camping/nature segment in which "we learned skills to survive in the woods." Such as? "Rope," he said. "Definitely."

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly

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Harry Potter theme park

Posted on May 31, 2007 | Comments Off on Harry Potter theme park

Suddenly, my mental powers are growing, growing. I can predict the future of where we will be going in a few years. I see, yes, it’s Florida taking shape out there in the mists of time. Especially since Mr. Boy recently finished the second HP game for the PC, the Chamber of Secrets by defeating the Basilisk, and has moved on to the third one, the Prisoner of Azkaban. Even limited to an hour a day, which he sometimes succeeds in pushing to 90 minutes, he’s had a lot of fun with the games. Also the books. We are reading the Half-Blood Prince nightly for the second time, and awaiting the last book due July 21 or thereabouts. Someday the theme park will come and now I know where we’ll be, too.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Scribbles

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