Category Archives: Mr. Boy

Racing to 100

Posted on January 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Racing to 100

Mr. Boy is painstakingly printing the headline on his math project poster, and his name at the bottom, as we work on deadline for his first grade class tomorrow. As a recovering journalist, I know all about deadlines. Maybe that’s where we first learn about working on deadline, i.e. waiting until the last minute to get homework done. I helped him lay out a grid of even lines on the poster with an aluminum yardstick (which won’t warp) we got at the local hardware store because "neatness counts" as his teacher always reminds the pupils. It’s harder than the old pre-school and kindergarten days when creativity, including a certain amount of sloppiness, ruled the day. He’s got these race car stickers which he is putting on the poster in groups of five (counting by 5s), which will then be labeled, 5, 10, 15, etc. to 100. Laborious effort. I feel like I’m reverting back to grade school.

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The grumpy old science judge

Posted on January 24, 2007 | Comments Off on The grumpy old science judge

I had to leave the science fair at Mr. B.’s elementary school after judging only five entries as I realized I was feeling too grumpy to continue without being unfair to the kids. I was judging third graders, the first year the kids at the school are required to enter the science fair, and a few of the ones I judged were so dopey I was tempted to give them the worst possible marks. I didn’t because, well, just because. Too tender-hearted under the grumpy old man veneer, I suppose. It’s hard to be harsh on third graders, on any kids really, they have so much to do and so much competition and confusion to cope with. And the schools don’t really help much. Mr. B. and his peers are called "awesome" forty times a day, a word I am thoroughly sick of, which leaves no room for achievement as far as I can see, if even the worst is judged "awesome" alongside the best. But I’m probably being too harsh. It’s a common failing of age. I probably should stick to volunteering for the landscaping committee.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Science/Engineering, Scribbles

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Out of sight and hearing

Posted on January 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Out of sight and hearing

This news article about a 3-year-old girl who threw such a tantrum on a Air Tran Airways flight that she and her parents were booted from the plane may be an extreme case, but it occasioned some commentary on a blog I read to the effect that parents who can’t control their children ought to seek other transport.

It reminded me of a flight we made with Mr. Boy, from Baltimore to Austin, when he was barely a year old. He started screaming in the waiting lounge and kept it up until the plane was at cruise altitude, when he finally fell asleep. We could tell from their faces that the other passengers clearly hated us, and one old fellow was pretty vocal about it. We did our best but nothing worked until sleep took over.

The blog’s commenters were all childless, and irritated at potentially being denied their alleged right to peace in the aluminum cattle car. I can see their point, but also the problem of the 3-year-old’s parents, and sympathize with both. But I’d hate to see air transport denied to parents of young children for the sake of the selfish, particularly those inane pet lovers who seem to be multiplying who pretend that they are "parents" to fifi and fido who can be conveniently isolated in a cage or box. Is there any such danger? Probably not, but you have to wonder.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Scribbles

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The arrows of light

Posted on January 21, 2007 | Comments Off on The arrows of light

Mr. Boy and I attended a Cub Scout graduation ceremony tonight where six Webelos cubs moved on to Boy Scouts. It was a simple ceremony with few words and lots of applause from parents and friends and the other cubs. Mr. B. was most impressed with the handmade arrows the graduates were presented with, called arrows of light. Then he got his snack, a cookie and a brownie, and decided not to stay and play with his pals. He preferred to go home and spend the evening with Mom who’s been working late too many nights recently.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly

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Potter progress

Posted on January 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Potter progress

Mr. Boy and I are on the last chapter of Prisoner of Azkaban, and he’s already having a cow to move on to Goblets of Fire. As I recall, this series is supposed to be for 9- and 10-year-olds, but Mr. B. won’t be seven for another month and he’s very enthusiastic about it. He’s learning to read, of course, but hasn’t quite the confidence to tackle the Potter books yet. Says with a note of awe in his voice that Vivian, a girl in his class, is reading the first one on her own. I expect he’ll be inspired now to try it, too. He’s at the stage where he claims to hate girls, but I really think that’s just a pose. A lot of times, in commenting on school (reading, writing and math) he seems to save his admiration for them.

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Posted in Library, Mr. Boy

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Back to school

Posted on January 17, 2007 | Comments Off on Back to school

The ice hasn’t all melted and much of it may still be around by morning, but Mr. B. goes back to school tomorrow, two hours later than normal, while getting out at the regular time. He’s not acting too awfully sad. All this hibernation–with Mom working from home all day–had gotten pretty boring by this afternoon.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly

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Still frozen

Posted on January 17, 2007 | Comments Off on Still frozen

The power is still holding at the rancho, as the temperature nudges above freezing and the icicles hanging from the eaves and trees slowly begin to melt and drip steadily. We’re lucky, I know. Some have it much worse:

"At the First Baptist Church in McAlester, Okla., where most of the city’s 18,000 residents have lacked power for four days, residents huddled under blankets and in front of space heaters."

Chris White, a friend who lives way east of here, near Washington-on-the-Brazos, still is bird watching a big egret down at his frozen pond, but wondering where the roadrunner and the deer have gotten to. About the only movement around the rancho are kids using pieces of cardboard to slide down the nearby hill, and Mr. Boy using his baseball bat to knock ice off the naked branches of the Red Bud in the backyard. Meanwhile, meteorologist Bob Rose expects some melting today will refreeze tonight before a slow warmup begins Thursday and Friday.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Weather/Climate

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