Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Caleb vs Darth Vader!
Caleb took part in Jedi Training Academy at Disney Studios and to pass, he had to go up again Darth Vader and conquer the dark side.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
What I Learned From our Disney Vacation...
1. Our children were not properly prepared for the Disney visit in that they hadn't seen many of the Disney movies and didn't recognize many of the characters. This was most evident on our first day in Animal Kingdom- they didn't know Rafiki or Jiminy Cricket and Sadie is now convinced that Pocahontas is actually Poca Hontas and has a beaver friend who takes care of her hair. We'll be spending all of April watching Disney movies to get caught up.
2. Caleb has a scientific mind and with that comes a curiosity about how the human body works. Add to that certain biographical information on Walt Disney and you get... well, an interesting conversation. We took the Magic Bus from the airport to the hotel and there was a short movie about DW on the bus. When Caleb saw Walt Disney, he began asking all these questions about how Disney had died. "Did his cells deteriorate?" "Did his organs shut down?" Not the happiest of conversations for the drive to the happiest place on earth and of course, everyone around us on the bus could hear but he's a curious boy with a desire to know things so we go with it.
3. Sometimes when the Walt Disney World Guide for Kids says that a ride is Dark, Rough, Loud and Scary, it might be a good idea to skip that particular ride.
Our first day at Disney was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom and while there we decided to check out Dinosaur. Audio-animatronic dinosaurs? Cool! What could be scary?.... Well, at least Daddy liked the ride. Caleb and Sadie, not so much and we'll just leave it at that. And from then on, the kids would not go on anything that was listed as dark, loud, and scary. Oh, and we were also done with dinosaurs after that experience.
4. A little girl will spend the entire day in her Cinderella dress, hoping to meet her favorite princess. And yes sweetheart, you looked stunning.
5. If it's in an air-conditioned building, Mommy will stand in line for an hour or more to get princess or Pixar autographs. If not, Mommy will only do it once. Sorry Tinkerbell, you're just not worth that much time in the hot sun on the last (and hottest) day of the vacation. I learned my lesson with Ariel and Prince Eric.
6. Mommy and Daddy will stand in the hot sun with no sunscreen on eagerly watching their little boy become a Jedi and fight his enemy (Darth Vader). And Mommy will get teary eyed at how her little man is doing things that he wouldn't have even considered doing just a year ago. Things like putting on a Jedi robe and talking to people in costume- not a big deal for many boys his age but a huge success for our little man.
7. An adorable little girl can get a super hero to do just about anything. We have photographic evidence of Mr. Incredible doing plies for Sadie.
8. When you're done, you're done. Even if the fireworks are still going off in the sky.
We stayed to watch the light and fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday night. I couldn't believe the kids were even up for it but halfway through the show, Sadie turns around to me and says "okay, let's go" and her brother said the same thing. So we got up and headed for the buses, with out even a glance back at the fireworks finale.
9. Sometimes you have to push through the fear.
Dinosaur did a number on the monkeys and I hoped that they would get over it before the end of vacation. I really, really, really wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids really, really, really didn't want to go on it. With much convincing and well, picking them up and carrying them onto the ride, we did it. And they saw that it wasn't so bad. Still not their favorite Disney ride but I hope that we taught them that sometimes we do things for the people we love and audio-animatronic isn't always bad.
10. My happiest moments at Disney as a kid are very different from being there as a parent. There really is something magical in seeing such happiness in your child's eyes. It's really special.
2. Caleb has a scientific mind and with that comes a curiosity about how the human body works. Add to that certain biographical information on Walt Disney and you get... well, an interesting conversation. We took the Magic Bus from the airport to the hotel and there was a short movie about DW on the bus. When Caleb saw Walt Disney, he began asking all these questions about how Disney had died. "Did his cells deteriorate?" "Did his organs shut down?" Not the happiest of conversations for the drive to the happiest place on earth and of course, everyone around us on the bus could hear but he's a curious boy with a desire to know things so we go with it.
3. Sometimes when the Walt Disney World Guide for Kids says that a ride is Dark, Rough, Loud and Scary, it might be a good idea to skip that particular ride.
Our first day at Disney was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom and while there we decided to check out Dinosaur. Audio-animatronic dinosaurs? Cool! What could be scary?.... Well, at least Daddy liked the ride. Caleb and Sadie, not so much and we'll just leave it at that. And from then on, the kids would not go on anything that was listed as dark, loud, and scary. Oh, and we were also done with dinosaurs after that experience.
4. A little girl will spend the entire day in her Cinderella dress, hoping to meet her favorite princess. And yes sweetheart, you looked stunning.
5. If it's in an air-conditioned building, Mommy will stand in line for an hour or more to get princess or Pixar autographs. If not, Mommy will only do it once. Sorry Tinkerbell, you're just not worth that much time in the hot sun on the last (and hottest) day of the vacation. I learned my lesson with Ariel and Prince Eric.
6. Mommy and Daddy will stand in the hot sun with no sunscreen on eagerly watching their little boy become a Jedi and fight his enemy (Darth Vader). And Mommy will get teary eyed at how her little man is doing things that he wouldn't have even considered doing just a year ago. Things like putting on a Jedi robe and talking to people in costume- not a big deal for many boys his age but a huge success for our little man.
7. An adorable little girl can get a super hero to do just about anything. We have photographic evidence of Mr. Incredible doing plies for Sadie.
8. When you're done, you're done. Even if the fireworks are still going off in the sky.
We stayed to watch the light and fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday night. I couldn't believe the kids were even up for it but halfway through the show, Sadie turns around to me and says "okay, let's go" and her brother said the same thing. So we got up and headed for the buses, with out even a glance back at the fireworks finale.
9. Sometimes you have to push through the fear.
Dinosaur did a number on the monkeys and I hoped that they would get over it before the end of vacation. I really, really, really wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids really, really, really didn't want to go on it. With much convincing and well, picking them up and carrying them onto the ride, we did it. And they saw that it wasn't so bad. Still not their favorite Disney ride but I hope that we taught them that sometimes we do things for the people we love and audio-animatronic isn't always bad.
10. My happiest moments at Disney as a kid are very different from being there as a parent. There really is something magical in seeing such happiness in your child's eyes. It's really special.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Caleb's Everything Shoppe
Caleb has joined the ranks of small business owner or possibly even corporate CEO. The Everything Shoppe. This is a store that he came up with sometime during the past few months and talks about it every now and then.
This morning during breakfast we got to see how diligently he works at managing his store. He informed us that business was great, that there were people everywhere. The store seems to deal mostly with super hero merchandise and cereal. He mentioned how his Human Torch Flame dolls weren't doing so good. We suggested trying to advertise more. He explained that they came with a turn-offer switch for the flames- a good design element.
During our conversation, Caleb excused himself to take a call from his cell phone (a dedicated CEO working even on Saturday morning). He quickly came back and filled us in on the latest. Apparently his best box maker (the guy in charge of making all the cereal boxes) was ill and needed to go to the doctors. Caleb told us that he had caught diabetes from his cat and was in need of medicine. To make matters worse, he was in Harrisburg and didn't know how to find the hospital. He only knew the one in Pittsburgh and didn't have a GPS.
I'm not sure what this means to the cereal production at Caleb's Everything Shoppe but I suggested that his box maker go to the library and look up directions to the hospital on the computer. Hopefully that will help and Caleb can enjoy the rest of his weekend :-)
This morning during breakfast we got to see how diligently he works at managing his store. He informed us that business was great, that there were people everywhere. The store seems to deal mostly with super hero merchandise and cereal. He mentioned how his Human Torch Flame dolls weren't doing so good. We suggested trying to advertise more. He explained that they came with a turn-offer switch for the flames- a good design element.
During our conversation, Caleb excused himself to take a call from his cell phone (a dedicated CEO working even on Saturday morning). He quickly came back and filled us in on the latest. Apparently his best box maker (the guy in charge of making all the cereal boxes) was ill and needed to go to the doctors. Caleb told us that he had caught diabetes from his cat and was in need of medicine. To make matters worse, he was in Harrisburg and didn't know how to find the hospital. He only knew the one in Pittsburgh and didn't have a GPS.
I'm not sure what this means to the cereal production at Caleb's Everything Shoppe but I suggested that his box maker go to the library and look up directions to the hospital on the computer. Hopefully that will help and Caleb can enjoy the rest of his weekend :-)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Caleb- Through Daddy's Eyes
This post was written by Andy who has a unique understanding of our little guy and a great way of writing about him.
***********************************************************************************
Caleb Walsh, the hardest working man in the Empire
By now you are probably familiar with the exploits of Margot, Sal, Ziggy, Bella, Queenie, and the plethora of Mexican relatives that form Sadie's imaginary posse. Well, not to be outdone, Caleb has started accumulating his own band of adventurers for his own ongoing saga. But unlike Sadie, Caleb has chosen his companions from the ranks of the various stories and video games he enjoys so much. That's probably not surprising, given how much time the boy spends with his nose in a book. And he is at the age where many boys get engrossed in the world of superheroes, globe trotters, and space adventurers. There's just one little detail that makes me a little concerned: Caleb keeps siding with the villains.
Now, as a parent, you worry about your kids falling in with the wrong crowd. But how do you prepare for you kid becoming friends with supervillains and video game bosses? Of all the characters in the Star Wars universe, Caleb likes to spend time with Emperor Palpatine, evil despot of the Galactic Empire. After playing Super Mario Brothers, Caleb decided to be friends with Bowser, the scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom. He plays with supervillains, Batman's rogue gallery, notorious bounty hunters, and ne'er-do-wells from all sorts of fictional universes. Just where did I go wrong as a father?
Did I do something wrong? By teaching my son that making a few bad choices doesn't make him a bad person, have I blinded him to the fact that there is true evil in the world? Or should I be learning from him? Does he have a capacity for unconditional friendship that I should be seeking to emulate? Perhaps it would help to understand just what it is that makes Caleb choose these friends. Does he have ambitions of global domination, a penchant for mayhem, or perhaps a desire for untold riches? Well, if his ongoing stories are any indication, what Caleb likes best about the forces of evil is not any of these things. No, he's in it for the anonymity of mid-level service positions.
He may be boyhood friends with the emperor of the Galaxy, but there is no job too small for Caleb. He's the tractor beam operator, the TIE fighter repairman, the AT-AT pilot. He tended to the Sarlacc when it was just a baby. The other day he gave Dr. Freeze an eye exam; I can only assume he provides optometry services for all supervillains. He appears to take great pride in doing the jobs that no one else ever seems to have time to do in these fictional worlds. So, why not use all of his prodigious talents for good? As near as I can tell, it's because heroes don't have legions of nameless minions. You see, while he enjoys playing in these worlds, he can't imagine trying to be one of the characters. Those are other people, not him. And since the nature of these stories don't really allow for anonymous heroes, the only place for him is among the ranks of the bad guys.
Caleb loves his books; he wouldn't dare change them just to suit his own pretending. That would violate his Prime Directive. So he goes to some pretty extraordinary lengths to dance between the raindrops of established continuity, to find a way to be a part of the stories as they are. Hence he works behind the scenes, fixing machines, building satellites, and generally keeping the lights on, all the while bearing witness to these epic tales. He always manages to be right there whenever something important is happening. But at just the wrong (right?) moment, fate will intervene to keep Caleb from having any impact. "I was just about to grab Chewbacca, but I tripped." "I tried to leap into action, but I fell into the sand and got stuck." "I almost stopped Han Solo, but Emperor Palpatine had been eating fruit and I slipped on a banana peel." These near misses never bother him; whatever happened couldn't have happened any other way.
Maybe one day Caleb will get to be the hero of his own story. I guess being friends with a villain doesn't always mean you have to become one yourself. Many heroes were close friends with their archnemesis at some point. Caleb's compassion and selfless desire to help others certainly seem like traits of a hero, not a villain. And he's certainly learning a lot of useful skills. His favorite stories may be set in stone, but his story is still largely unwritten. I look forward to seeing it unfold. And in the meantime, whenever I watch "Star Wars" and see that Storm Trooper smack his head on a door as he makes his way through the Death Star, I'll know that isn't just any faceless henchman. That's my Caleb, the hardest working man in the Empire.
***********************************************************************************
Caleb Walsh, the hardest working man in the Empire
By now you are probably familiar with the exploits of Margot, Sal, Ziggy, Bella, Queenie, and the plethora of Mexican relatives that form Sadie's imaginary posse. Well, not to be outdone, Caleb has started accumulating his own band of adventurers for his own ongoing saga. But unlike Sadie, Caleb has chosen his companions from the ranks of the various stories and video games he enjoys so much. That's probably not surprising, given how much time the boy spends with his nose in a book. And he is at the age where many boys get engrossed in the world of superheroes, globe trotters, and space adventurers. There's just one little detail that makes me a little concerned: Caleb keeps siding with the villains.
Now, as a parent, you worry about your kids falling in with the wrong crowd. But how do you prepare for you kid becoming friends with supervillains and video game bosses? Of all the characters in the Star Wars universe, Caleb likes to spend time with Emperor Palpatine, evil despot of the Galactic Empire. After playing Super Mario Brothers, Caleb decided to be friends with Bowser, the scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom. He plays with supervillains, Batman's rogue gallery, notorious bounty hunters, and ne'er-do-wells from all sorts of fictional universes. Just where did I go wrong as a father?
Did I do something wrong? By teaching my son that making a few bad choices doesn't make him a bad person, have I blinded him to the fact that there is true evil in the world? Or should I be learning from him? Does he have a capacity for unconditional friendship that I should be seeking to emulate? Perhaps it would help to understand just what it is that makes Caleb choose these friends. Does he have ambitions of global domination, a penchant for mayhem, or perhaps a desire for untold riches? Well, if his ongoing stories are any indication, what Caleb likes best about the forces of evil is not any of these things. No, he's in it for the anonymity of mid-level service positions.
He may be boyhood friends with the emperor of the Galaxy, but there is no job too small for Caleb. He's the tractor beam operator, the TIE fighter repairman, the AT-AT pilot. He tended to the Sarlacc when it was just a baby. The other day he gave Dr. Freeze an eye exam; I can only assume he provides optometry services for all supervillains. He appears to take great pride in doing the jobs that no one else ever seems to have time to do in these fictional worlds. So, why not use all of his prodigious talents for good? As near as I can tell, it's because heroes don't have legions of nameless minions. You see, while he enjoys playing in these worlds, he can't imagine trying to be one of the characters. Those are other people, not him. And since the nature of these stories don't really allow for anonymous heroes, the only place for him is among the ranks of the bad guys.
Caleb loves his books; he wouldn't dare change them just to suit his own pretending. That would violate his Prime Directive. So he goes to some pretty extraordinary lengths to dance between the raindrops of established continuity, to find a way to be a part of the stories as they are. Hence he works behind the scenes, fixing machines, building satellites, and generally keeping the lights on, all the while bearing witness to these epic tales. He always manages to be right there whenever something important is happening. But at just the wrong (right?) moment, fate will intervene to keep Caleb from having any impact. "I was just about to grab Chewbacca, but I tripped." "I tried to leap into action, but I fell into the sand and got stuck." "I almost stopped Han Solo, but Emperor Palpatine had been eating fruit and I slipped on a banana peel." These near misses never bother him; whatever happened couldn't have happened any other way.
Maybe one day Caleb will get to be the hero of his own story. I guess being friends with a villain doesn't always mean you have to become one yourself. Many heroes were close friends with their archnemesis at some point. Caleb's compassion and selfless desire to help others certainly seem like traits of a hero, not a villain. And he's certainly learning a lot of useful skills. His favorite stories may be set in stone, but his story is still largely unwritten. I look forward to seeing it unfold. And in the meantime, whenever I watch "Star Wars" and see that Storm Trooper smack his head on a door as he makes his way through the Death Star, I'll know that isn't just any faceless henchman. That's my Caleb, the hardest working man in the Empire.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Romeo and Juliet at McDonalds
The other day was conference day. The kids' preschool does parent/teacher conferences twice a year and they're pretty helpful (especially with trying to judge where Caleb is with things). The disappointing thing about conferences is that they are on a school day so no school and normally that's not a bad thing but when you've missed most of January due to snow and ice it's kind of frustrating to have another day off for the kids.
Well, to reward them for making it through their first, mostly full week of school since December, I decided to take them to McDonald's. There's one near our house that has a nice indoor playground and the kids have been bugging me to go there since we moved out here.
We got there, ordered and went to sit and eat in the play area. I have to say, it was nicer than I had expected. It was clean and most importantly, it didn't smell funny. The kids were really good and ate their lunches. Caleb even ate the chicken nuggets (he's been objecting to them on past trips) When they finished eating, I let them play. There were quite a few kids there and I would say, in less than 10 minutes, Sadie had a little boy just a bit older than her, following her around.
The kids all played for awhile. I was excited to see Caleb involved in the games too. They were pretty much just chasing each other through the tubes and while it makes me nervous, I was happy that things were going so well. Caleb is doing better with other kids but when he gets excited, he can seem aggressive. He yells and growls a lot which other kids can interpret as threatening and, well, we've had things escalate to where he's hitting. Previously this wasn't such a big problem but as he's getting bigger and older it's a more difficult situation. Most parents don't expect a 5 yr old to be hitting and without understanding his circumstances, it makes for a very uncomfortable situation.
I sat back and let the kids enjoy playing for a while and it was nice. They came over for some sips of milk and to check on their Happy Meal prizes. Then I noticed that Sadie was spending more time with her little friend and Caleb was off on his own. Again, this happens some time so I wasn't too concerned. Then I noticed Sadie and her friend running away from Caleb and I started paying a bit more attention. Sure enough, Sadie's little friend was getting a little possessive of the Sadie-girl and didn't seem to want to share her attention, even with her big brother.
Caleb came by and I told him they could each do one more thing and then we would get ready to go. Of course the one thing Caleb wanted to do was to sit in a car with Sadie and Sadie didn't want to leave her friend. I tried to persuade Caleb to let her have some space and then I tried to persuade Sadie to indulge her brother and none of it was working. Caleb started getting upset and I was done and so announced that we were going home. This was when Sadie's little friend decided to come over and taunt Caleb for having to go home. Big mistake!!
Mama bear kicked in and I gave the little guy a very serious mommy-glare and said "Do Not Do That. We Don't Act Like That." Not yelling, but talking very sternly to this young man who quickly backed off and got quiet.
I calmed Caleb down and then had an upset Sadie who wasn't ready to go (of course- did I mention, this started out like a great way to spend the afternoon?) I tried to explain to Sadie that if she and her friend couldn't be nice and play with Caleb, then we couldn't stay. Sadie was heart-broken and so I had to help her with her shoes. I was done. While doing this, I noticed her little friend inching back over towards us. I told Sadie she should say good bye to her friend as he came over. He got very close and very sweetly said "Good-bye Sadie, I love you." Sadie rattled off a "Good-bye, I love you" too and that was the end.
I was sooooo done with McDonald's and soooooo not ready for my 4 yr old to have little boys telling her they love her.
We are in soooooo much trouble with this one
Well, to reward them for making it through their first, mostly full week of school since December, I decided to take them to McDonald's. There's one near our house that has a nice indoor playground and the kids have been bugging me to go there since we moved out here.
We got there, ordered and went to sit and eat in the play area. I have to say, it was nicer than I had expected. It was clean and most importantly, it didn't smell funny. The kids were really good and ate their lunches. Caleb even ate the chicken nuggets (he's been objecting to them on past trips) When they finished eating, I let them play. There were quite a few kids there and I would say, in less than 10 minutes, Sadie had a little boy just a bit older than her, following her around.
The kids all played for awhile. I was excited to see Caleb involved in the games too. They were pretty much just chasing each other through the tubes and while it makes me nervous, I was happy that things were going so well. Caleb is doing better with other kids but when he gets excited, he can seem aggressive. He yells and growls a lot which other kids can interpret as threatening and, well, we've had things escalate to where he's hitting. Previously this wasn't such a big problem but as he's getting bigger and older it's a more difficult situation. Most parents don't expect a 5 yr old to be hitting and without understanding his circumstances, it makes for a very uncomfortable situation.
I sat back and let the kids enjoy playing for a while and it was nice. They came over for some sips of milk and to check on their Happy Meal prizes. Then I noticed that Sadie was spending more time with her little friend and Caleb was off on his own. Again, this happens some time so I wasn't too concerned. Then I noticed Sadie and her friend running away from Caleb and I started paying a bit more attention. Sure enough, Sadie's little friend was getting a little possessive of the Sadie-girl and didn't seem to want to share her attention, even with her big brother.
Caleb came by and I told him they could each do one more thing and then we would get ready to go. Of course the one thing Caleb wanted to do was to sit in a car with Sadie and Sadie didn't want to leave her friend. I tried to persuade Caleb to let her have some space and then I tried to persuade Sadie to indulge her brother and none of it was working. Caleb started getting upset and I was done and so announced that we were going home. This was when Sadie's little friend decided to come over and taunt Caleb for having to go home. Big mistake!!
Mama bear kicked in and I gave the little guy a very serious mommy-glare and said "Do Not Do That. We Don't Act Like That." Not yelling, but talking very sternly to this young man who quickly backed off and got quiet.
I calmed Caleb down and then had an upset Sadie who wasn't ready to go (of course- did I mention, this started out like a great way to spend the afternoon?) I tried to explain to Sadie that if she and her friend couldn't be nice and play with Caleb, then we couldn't stay. Sadie was heart-broken and so I had to help her with her shoes. I was done. While doing this, I noticed her little friend inching back over towards us. I told Sadie she should say good bye to her friend as he came over. He got very close and very sweetly said "Good-bye Sadie, I love you." Sadie rattled off a "Good-bye, I love you" too and that was the end.
I was sooooo done with McDonald's and soooooo not ready for my 4 yr old to have little boys telling her they love her.
We are in soooooo much trouble with this one
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