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The Sixth Year
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| Well here we go into your sixth year. You are living the summer life of a child. I want you to live your life at your pace not mine. So you roll out of bed around 9 a.m. every morning. This works for me as I can get most of my work done by 10 a.m. and that leaves the rest of the day for us to be together. Lot's of swimming going on. It gets pretty boring for Daddy, but you see no end to the possibilities. Our biggest issue is you do not like to wear swim shorts. Now swimming in your birthday suit is no problem when no one else is here, but when we have company it is a bit odd. So whenever we expect sdomeone the few days before I must get you to wear the trunks in preparation. The whole concept puzzles you as you do really see why there is the need for them and why it might bother anyone else. But the swimming pool gets you the exercise you need and gets you out of the house and away from TV. So it ios a good thing. Daddy just has to figure many creative ways to keep his old body out of the sun and not be baked to a crisp. So that means about four to five 15 minute swimming sessions to keep our exposure down. Ah the lazy, hazy days of summer! Memories are made of this! I love you. Daddy (Entry of June 6, 2007) |
| Well, we are settling into the lazt, hazy days of summer. That statement alone can tell you how old your father is. That was the title of a hit song by Nat King Cole in the 1960's when I was a teenager! Anyway daddy has wrapped up most of his necessary work and we begin our summer vacation in ernest. here is what our daily schedule looks like. Daddy gets up around 7 a.m. to drink coffee and read the newspaper to have few minutes to himself. You get up somewhere between 8 and 9 a.m. We curl up on the couch together for a half hour or so while you drink some chocalte milk and we watch cartoons. you take a half hour to an hour to slowly wake up and go through the process of getting dressed. Near 9:30 a.m. we take off for the gym so Daddy can work out for a couple of hours while you play with kids in the child center at the club. Once done there we come home and Daddy showers and shaves and then we decide what the food of choice may be for lunch. At leasr twice a week we go to McDonalds or Chik Filet where they have playgrounds. Once done with that, we may squeeze in some necessary grocery shopping and then back home we go. Then it is time for 1/2 hour of swimming in the back yard. You always insist we do it together. Then it's back to playing games and hanging out. Some imagination games, lots of wrestling, tickling and laughing before we head back to the pool for another half hour to hour between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. Then Mommy is home and you are off to Mommy World. What a life! Thanks for making my life this simple. (Entry of June 25, 2007) |
| It has been a long slow summer of fun. I haven't written much about our life this summer, becasue quite honestly our life has been one of leaisure. I can't say that much of any major significance has happened and that is a good thing. We have passed our hours watching cartoons (Sponge Bob) and Dady has watched the Tour de France. Throw in a couple of hours at the gym and 1 - 2 hours of swimming, the days have been pretty busy. You are now getting excited about school. Each day as we pass your school, you inform me that this is your nes school and you can hardly wait to go and play with new friends. Just one month from kindergarten. You are a natural swimmer and have no fears. I am quite proud of your abilities without any lessons. dady plans the month of August to have little work involved as I will have 7 hours daily in Spetember to work when you are not here. It has been great! (Entry of July 30, 2007) |
| Life is so imperfect. It does not last forever. I think though that this summer was one that will last forever. Just months of you and I hanging out. Someday when you are grown, I think there will be times that you will think to yourself, "I am so different from my Dad!" and you will be right. A nanosecond later you can utter," I am just like my Dad! and you will be right. As I grow with you, it has brought my relationship with my father to where I maybe understand it a bit now. My Father dug ditches in a very cold, cold place. I knew I hated the cold and would never dig ditches. Because of that neither took the time to get to know the other. A pity, I am sure. Hopefully, now you will pass on to your children and they on to theirs, the feelings we experienced this summer. It is my hope none of our lineage will have to live as I did. My life has been wonderful, exciting and blessed and yet so crazy, crazy, crazy at the same time. I wish for you to have the wonderful, exciting and Blessed without the crazy. This summer now ranks number 1 in the summers of my life. The others were the summers of 1954, when I spent part of the summer in Kalispel, Montana with my Aunt uncle and cousins. Much of the time we were also at a cabin on Echo Lake. It was the first time I ever watched television! We slept late and awoke to the smell of the woods and nature. Days were spent playing and swimming. The summer of 1959 was my first time escaping from my home. My blessed older sister, Deanna had just gotten married and yet she took me for the summer and I played baseball, board and card games, and just had great fun as never before. The summer of 1967, I left home and knew I was never coming back. I was a radio announcer in Colorado and for the first time I was the director of my cruise ship. In 1972 I was living in Munich, Germany and got to experienece probably one of the most intense events in the history of the 20th century. I was on the grounds of the 1972 Summer Olympics nearly every minute and witnessed all the history that is told today. In the summer of 1985, I was dating your mother. It was summer when I finally excepted peace into my life. And finally the summer of 2002. You were born and I was reborn. I love you! (Entry of August 19, 2007) |
| Well, we have made the big change! You entered kindergarten this week. I was rather pleased that you looked at it with no fear or doubt and as a new adventure. The major change actually involved me. I now have a schedule. Up until this point we got up when we wanted. We left the house when we wanted. We did what we wnated when we wanted. Now each day Monday through Friday I must be at your school at 7:55 (they punish me if I am early or late!) and must pick you up at 2:55 p.m. I think I am ready for this change however. We have had five plus years of just you and I 24/7. I think you are ready for more play with kids your age and I am ready for more contact with kids my age. The major thing this year is how quiet the house has been! I liked that also. I almost feel as I am now retired and on a full-time vacation. Both days as I have taken you to school each morning, you have one question for me as I drop you at the door. "Dad, you come back to get me?" Yes son I can hardly wait. I knew this week was coming so Dad had put off a lot of work projects thinking I would need to have things to do. It is a new stage in our lives as you begin the long journey towards life without your Dad. I love you! (Entry of August 28, 2007) |
| Second day of school, your teacher hands me a note saying you were not paying attention to her in school! I had to sign a big ominous yellow note saying I knew about it. After a heart to heart talk and a little pleading, you responded well and by the end of the first week, you were a teacher's pet! On Friday as we were sitting on the couch with a little time before you had to go to school, you looked up at me and said, Dad, I have to get dressed and go to school. That's my boy! You are into Batman big time. Mom bought a couple of Batman cartoon videos that cover the whole Batman saga. The other day I took the time to sit with you and at age 5, you knew all the characters of Bruce Wayne, The joker, etc. You pleaded with your grandmother for a Batman costume and she made you a batman cowl, cape and belt. Now you want the tights and shoes. You jump from high places pretending you are Batman and like to watch yourself in a mirror when in costume. Too cute! It has been interesting to watch your developing choice of what to wear. You have definite ideas of what you should wear. We cannot get you to wear shorts and insist on long pants always. Long sleeved shirts are preffered over short, but you will allow the short and it is big deal that you have done so. But most of all you are a happy child and you love to laugh and play. (Entry of September 3, 2007) |
| Well all has worked out for school now. The only problem is that you have been introduced to the world of infectious children diseases and you were very sick for two of the first four weeks of school. For a while we thought you would use up all your absences in the first 3 months and we would have to start kindergarten all over again. But you have taken to school with the same humour and positive attitude as you do all other things. I am getting a wee bit weary because now all the time you go around the house doing letters and sounds. " A - Apple, a-a-a, B - Ball - b-b-b and so on. For some reason you find this fascinating and it is always on your mind. We can never say to you, "please stop! That is irritating!" because we relish the fact you are getting into education and in no way could we discourage you. However another phase that we look forward to the end of. The most amazing thing is your desire to go to bed early. growing up we never really pushed a bedtime schedule on you and you slept on our schedule pretty much. But since school has started you come to us somewhere around 8 p.m. and announce it is time to go to bed. Your mother has used this as convenient excuse for her to catch another hour or so of sleep as she puts you down. I cannot complain to her about her sleeping more because it is good for the family good. Each day is an adventure with you and each one another day of joy. Halloween is growing with affection on your part as you have decorated our house already with ghosts, franeksteins, whiches and Pumpkins. And you do love the costume! I Love you. (Entry of October 15, 2007) |
| Thank goodness, you really like school. Each day brings another adventure! Your first best friend is Anna. She is a cute little pixie girl who seems self confident. You get along so well that your teacher, Miss Brown, moved you to the same table. The funny thing was you were not consulted on this change and you assumed you had done something wrong.so standing in front of the class you began sobbing quite loudly. Miss Brown was bit freaked out. She got you on the computer to calm you down and afterwards you asked to go to your new table and you are now happy to be there. Since starting school every day you come home asking for a Spiderman lunch box. Since Daddy is the stay at home parent, the thought of preparing a meal for you every day as opposed to you eating at the cafeteria, is not my idea of fun. So I have resisted the lunchbox deal. However your teacher says that is all you can talk about is getting a lunch box. Your dad has shopped for this box but could never find one. So yesterday I came to school to have lunch with you. Lunch boxes do not look like the ones I used, but hey that was 50+ years ago! So you showed me which one you wanted. Outside of that conversation you were not that interested in me being there although every one of your classmates wanted to engage me in conversation. It was fun to see how you are in the school setting and I wll probably do this once a month for a while. Anyway, after leaving you I went up to Target and got your Spidernan lunch box. I set it on the kitchen table and when we got home you walked in and saw it. I am not certain I have ever seen you so happy! You turned to me and said "For me?" I said of course it is for you. Are you happy? Dad, I am so happy! So that lunch box never left your side the remainder of the evening. You wanted to sleep with it. You and Mom went through the kitchen and got your lunch box all loaded up. Early this morning, Dad got up to make you a lunch meat sandwich. Normally when you get out of bed in the morning you like lay around and watch TV before getting ready for school. You were ready today! Got dressed and was bugging me to get to school. You loaded your lunch box into your backpack and was ready to go. So we get to school way too early as the doors do not open until 7:50 a.m. You made your Dad stand out in 50 degree weather in shorts as we stood by the door. When the bell rang, you went at a full gallop so you could be the first in your room. I quickly went around so I could watch you through your class window. You immediately called to Miss Brown and pulled your new lunch box from your backpack as she oohed and aahed over it. You were so happy! And I know this will be a lunch to remember. Always rememberr it is seldom the big things in life that matter to us, but it is quite often the small unimportant things that we treasure the most. Being with you every day of my life is always my greatest treasure. You are my love! Dad (entry of November 1, 2007) |
| Well it will be a Christmas to remember. You have finally tapped into the pure joy of getting presents. For the past month, anytime there is a commercial on TV that is a toy for a young boy, it makes no difference what it is, you say, "Dad, I want that!" Of course anytime a commercial comes on about something for young girls, I always say, "Ro, let's get that for Christmas!" Which you reply emphatically, "Nnnnoooooo!" So we got the decorations in the house up before Thanksgiving to extend the pure joy and excitement of Christmas for as long as we possibly can. The day after Thanksgiving, Dad went and bought 4 presents to put under the tree for you. You were just too excited. Because the only presents under our tree are going to be yours this year, I saw no need to put your name on any of them. You wanted to make sure no one would think they just might be for them instead of you. So you took your black magic marker and carefully printed your name, Ro, on every package. And each day, you say, "Dad, open presents?" I have to reply no son, not until Christmas. Since you live in ten minute world (A world that only exists in 10 minutes beofre no and ten minutes after) the concept of when Christmas is, really has no meaning for you. This was also the first year that you willingly and eagerly went to tell Santa Clause what you wanted for Chrsitmas. So I suspect Santa will bring you a Power Ranger Helmet and a remote control car to you Christmas Eve after you go to sleep. It will be fun. Happy Holidays, son! (Entry of November 27, 2007) |
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I wish I done what I am about to do in the past years,
but hey, I just thought of it. I am going to review your accomplishments
in 2007. The year 2007 was when you: You were all about Spiderman, Batman, Song Bob, and The Avatar. You leapt from one piece of furniture to another in your black Spiderman costume as you shot at web from your fingers. You slept in your black Spiderman costume. You wore to the department store. You liked to rescue people from danger You developed a sincere interest in band aids and their application. You enjoyed inspecting boo boos. You started school and even though it was a shock to your system, you have assimilated well. You are well-liked and only get in trouble because of your sense of humor and playfulness. Sometimes the discipline of schools and group dynamics do not have time for your playfulness. Your development of computer savvy is meteoric. It is unbelievable the level you have reached. Of course that means less to you, because Dad thinks any kind of computer use development is fantastic. But what you can do age 5 blows my mind. You vacationed for a week with your Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma for the first time. We had a glorious time. You have developed a huge need for every kind of shoe and/or jacket in the world. You spent 1134 hours one on one with your Dad. Most of the time, we weren't doing much more than just being together. You have taught me that nothing else matters as much. Happy 2008. I love you |
| Well school is a trip to another planet. Your dad has not been in school for almost 40 years. Times were different is all I can say. We are now going frequently into school for meetings, because you have been described as being behind. IN KINDERGARTEN!!! You can now read. You count to a hundred. Every piece you bring home from school and we review it with you and know it 100%. You are a whiz at the computer and you seem like a normal little 5 year old boy. I am thinking your class is composed of child geniuses or mayve they are doing this with the parents of every child to get us all in a frenzy. Of course in Texas there is TAKS test. All education is geared to passing that test. Schools now start preparing you in kindergarten at age 5. If you have difficulty with this test in three years or so, your school gets judged and jobs are affected. I am glad that they will be pushing you more than I would have and all will work out for the good. All Dad is interested in is making sure you get to be a little boy and enjoy this time of your life. I love you. (Entry of January 25,2008) |
| It is always difficult for Dad to get in entries on book during the spring of the year. It is always when I have the biggest and most important of my events, plus I use that time to get most everything else done for the remainder of my events for the rest of the year. I realized that with school and weekend activities, that we really had little time together as a family. I have had to carve time each day to make sure that does not happen as my business will be of no consequence some day, but you will matter because you and your offspring will live on and affect your worlds. This week we get to go to our first theatre play together as your class has a field trip to see Winnie the Pooh. I can hardly wait. It should make for a great entry next week. You vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds and I am constantly caught off guard by some the of complete sentences that come from your mouth and mind. The most imortant thing is we find time to laugh at life and nothing in general. I love you. Dad (Entry of February 24,2008) |
| There will always be a gap in entries from February to April, when you ever get around to reading this. It is the busy time of my business and I am fortunate to just carve out time to maintain a little bit of a relationship with you. The good news is that for the rest of the year I have a lot of time for you. As you get older that is the one thing that never changes. You want my attention. I do believe that children act up or become discipline problems simply because it is one method to grab the parent's attention. I would rather that I give a head of time so that the back stuff does not come up. You are doing well in school and seem to be fitting in well. I think you may be like most boys and the being with kids your age will trump any interest in education. Playing and having fun is already your major. But I think a happy person will go farther in the world than a smart educated person. I hope you will be both. Your fetish for the latest shoe is your major vice at this age. A boy in your class came to school with sketchers and they advertise a lot on the TV shows you watch, so after much discussion, you got your first pair this week. You did not want to take them off and now the other three pair of shoes you own are gathering dust in the closet. But I have no complaints. You are a low maintenance child and seldom demand or require any of the earthly stuff, so it is no problem. You are starting to write. Your main writing projects are creating signs on paper that you post on your bedroom door to inform your mother and I as what our rights are concerning entry and access to your room. The conditions change daily and are most amusing. I can actually read what you write so it is a lot of fun. Your year of kindergarten will only last 2 more months and it will be another fun summer together. I love you! Dad (Enrty of April 16, 2008) |
| OK now life has sped by. I was sitting here thinking about what I should write to you in this entry. Suddenly I realized, you just had your sixth birthday and that means I have to start a new life page for you. So this is the final entry about your sixth year of life. In so many ways you are the same little boy at age six that you were at 1. You are just taller and more able to tell me what to do in my service to his lordship. You are now in speech therapy in school, because you have not developed your language skills as fast as others. I understand you most of the time and that is all that matters. Of course mostly what you say to me is "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!", because you demand my full attention as much as you can. You are now acheiving more independence. You no longer allow me to always decide what it is you are going to wear and make some basic daily decisions for you like do you take a lunch to school or do you eat at the cafeteria. Each day after school you go play in the playground for an hour or so. This has forced me to get to know complete stratngers, because they are the parents of those that play with you. And now some of them will be coming to our house this summer because we have a swimming pool and they don't. You have already gone swimming daily even though the water is extremely cold. But it is now in the 90's daily so soon the rest of the family will be able to join you. We are redesigning your bedroom to reflect a more grown up little man. Soon you will be in the first grade, but before that we have a wonderful carefree summer ahead of us with very little to do and isn't life grand! On to the Book of Ro Chapter 7. I love you. Your Dad (Entry of May 21, 2008) |