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Blog Entry 306 of 330 Father Knows... Something. Let's figure out what.
This is my outlet to share with the world all the things I've learned - and continue to learn - about being the Father to 3 young children. But I should warn you that my experience is probably NOT yours: my wife and I are in the process of adopting a sibling set of 3 - all 6 years old and younger - while in our 40's. We've heard that, "it keeps you young," but so far, it has mostly kept us tired... But like any parent, our kids teach us something new every day and I hope to share at least something here with you at that same pace. The entries will be short - time constraints will probably keep it at or around a mere 200 words - but as they say, brevity is the soul of wit. Let's hope I can create some brevity here. So if you read something you like, please leave a comment. If you read something you don't, please just leave. (Just kidding - I'd love to hear from critics as well.)

On the horns of a dilemma
Contributed by: Chris Stone   on 4/2/2008

Actually, I'm in between dilemmas at the moment. Here's some of what I'm facing ...

I've already mentioned my daughter's early adaptation to sudoku puzzles, but I now have another story about that (of course). Last Sunday, " M" asked for newspaper to use with her "Easter putty." I gave her (no lie) the recent YourHub section for her and her brothers' amusement. Thinking that would be the end of the issue, I then laid down on the couch and took a nap.

After sleeping for approximately 12 minutes before waking to find a boy jumping on my chest, I went back into the living room, only to find "M" working the sudoku puzzle. Can Daddy say, "Impressed?" Why, yes he can!

She didn't have everything right (obviously), but as we worked through it together I realized that she understood the rules better than I thought she had; she saw that a "7" was already in the general area and erased her missed guess. We together recognized that she seemed to be "8 happy," and she erased roughly 153 of them as we forged our way to the end.

Now. My question is, do I share with her the grand strategy of scanning the grid, using the numbers you're given and comparing the "open 3's" against one another, or do I let her discover these strategies on her own?

I'm leaning toward the latter, if only because it should help to develop her neural pathways if she has to figure out the patterns on her own. And that seems reason enough ...


My other dilemma - now that we're officially parents - is what to do with vacations? As an oldest child, I can remember the pain in hearing, "... but your sister won't remember a trip to Disney Land at this age" all too often. Mainly as I was requesting a trip to DisneyLand ...

But as an adult I have to ask: Does it really matter that young children remember their trips to "desirable" vacation destinations? We took a train trip across the Midwest when I was about D-Man's age and the only thing I remember is leaning back - assuming the engineer's chair had a back instead of being just a bench - and hitting the steel floor with my head.

I immediately blacked out, so I don't remember too much of the incident. Except for leaning back, expecting a "back" and my head hitting the Reset button. Other than that ...

So what's to lose by taking a 2-year-old to Disney Land? So what if he won't "remember it?" What do we lose by taking him to see Mickey and Minnie and Goofy? Will he remember that the Haunted Castle was closed (it usually is), or will he remember that the family had a great time on some trip and that we were generally a happy lot?

Mind you: The inner Scrooge says that we could achieve the same result by allowing the boys to jump on our bed from time to time. More on that to follow ...

Chris Stone is a slightly different - hopefully better - father and man than he was yesterday...



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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Karin Malchow
posted on 4/11/2008 @ 1:47:56 PM
Rated Blog Entry
I object strenuously to the "they won't remember it" argument. Imprinting joy, discovery and adventure does not require conscious recollection later. Do the Diz; you won't regret it. Except for the prices.
Submitted By: Chris Stone
posted on 4/3/2008 @ 9:25:20 PM
(Not Rated)
Ahhhh - but we're only children at heart; they still have working minds...
Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 4/3/2008 @ 8:24:01 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Hard to say what a child will remember. Heck, I'm trying to remember yesterday's lunch.....
Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Chris Stone

Arvada , CO

Chris Stone has posted 330 blog entries and 142 comments since joining on 7/6/2006. Chris Stone 's average blog rating is 5.
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