To School

Can it be called back to school if you haven't been there yet? What do we call it? For lack of a better name, I am just going with "To School." Of course, I'm sure you probably noticed that from the title. Whatever.

Anyway, things are getting a little bit crazy around here, since our oldest is going to be starting kindergarten in just a few weeks. We checked out a few schools, various programs within the schools, etc., and I'm pretty sure that just about any choice is a good one. The schools around here are great. The thing is, all of that isn't what really concerns me. So what exactly is it, you may be asking, that concerns me? The other kids. And my kid, in relation to those other kids. Stuff like that.

Will she make friends? Will those friends be a good influence? What kinds of habits and behaviors will she pick up from classmates? Will she be happy with the other kids? How will all of this effect her relationship with her little brothers? Will she be so overstimulated after school that she wants nothing to do with her brothers? Will the fact that I am the primary caregiver make any of the other parents hesitant to let their kids be friends with her? That last one might sound a bit crazy, but when she was part of a playgroup last year, although no one ever said it outright, I really felt like being the only dad in a group of moms made some of the other parents somewhat uneasy with us. Of course, part of this could just be that I'm awkward as hell, and it takes people a while to figure out when I'm kidding. Really though, I swear, that's totally part of my charm.

I realize that I'm being just a little bit crazy about all of this, and I'm sure that everything is going to be great. She's a good kid, ya know. Still, all of this has been going through my head pretty a lot recently, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. I've heard some pretty awful things come

Easiest Summer Outdoor Activity

Step one: Get a Hose Nozzle Gun.
Step two: Attach to hose.
Step three: Spray kids.

This is more fun than it has the right to be.

We've been having a bit of a heat wave in the NW recently, so we've been trying to find activities to cool off. The kids like running through the sprinkler, which is great fun, but they get themselves really, really, ridiculously wet. And dirty. While this is okay when it is getting close to bedtime, it complicates things a bit if you're just trying to do something quick and fun, particularly in the middle of the day. You know, when it's the hottest? I'm sure a lot of you might be saying to yourselves, "why don't you just throw them into some swim trunks and let them go nuts? Sometimes, that is awesome, but there are still times when I really just want going out and cooling off to be a quick activity (10-15 mins), without anyone getting so wet that they need to change their clothes at all.

The best thing about hose nozzle guns?
You get to control how wet the kids get. You can set it to a mist, or a stream. You can make it rain, have the kids jump over the stream of water, duck under the stream, or whatever else you can think of.
Anyway, it's great.
I am a fan.