Baker Monkeys!

Snow Days

2010-01-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

The last two days have brought more snow to Lexington than we have seen at any one time since Josh was born. A whopping 4 inches!! The roads are a mess so we are staying close to home. Since Ma and Pops live five minutes away and they have an awesome sledding hill in their front yard we have been there except to sleep. Ma's parents, Mimi and Bob, have been visiting since before the snow and we have had a wonderful time with them. Cousins Adam and Rachael arrived in town from Louisville this afternoon and are ready for fun in the snow as well. The newest Baker boy, Eliot, should be here late tonight so the kids will get to meet him for the first time tomorrow.

Pics to come!!!

2010-01-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Baker Monkeys plus cousins Adam and Rachael

Caleb Josh Adam

Maggie Rachael

Maggie Josh Ma Caleb Adam

Josh cutting our lego cookies

lego cookies

lego house

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2010-01-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

I opened email this morning and to my surprise, there was a practice schedule for Josh's baseball team. Um, 10 degrees just screams Play Ball! don't you think? Well, such is the life of a baseball family. I do find it funny that I have had contact with the baseball coach when the season officially starts in March, and the basketball coaches for the league that starts this week have made no contact at all.

Both boys will be playing basketball at the YMCA this winter. Monk is on the Bucks and Josh is on the Lakers. Maggie continues to kick serious gymnastic butt. She has a meet coming up in the Cincinnati area this weekend. I should be able to have that video posted here by next Wednesday.

Well that was the least interesting post ever. I'll put some Christmas pics up later to make up for it.

New Year

2010-01-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

So I am as bad as Tom at posting. I used to have a blog that I updated daily for years, but no more. This year I will do my best to update more regularly. I won't promise much, as life at times gets in the way.

Since summer we have lost two of our beloved family members. Kevin, Tom's uncle, passed away after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. Michael, Tom's cousin, was suddenly taken from us in a car wreck just a few days ago.

It is hard to focus on the positive of a year when so much was lost. My heartbreaks for my children. They have had to face the pain of loss too early in their lives. I hope that we are guiding them well through the grieving process. It is so hard to know.

We are closing the door on 2009 and looking forward. We will live this as the year of no regrets. We will leave no positive word unsaid and be sure that what others receive from us is kindness and respect.

The Baker Family wishes you peace and love in this new year.

Summer of the Monkeys Part I

2009-06-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

The first week of summer vacation is over. I think it will take a full week to recover. Each day this week we had a special activity and many also had baseball, gymnastics and Bible school.

Day one:
We stopped by the library and signed up for the summer reading program. Josh was not very excited about the prospect of 15 hours of reading, but I think that's because he doesn't realize how much reading he does. Maggie picked out some American Girl books and then helped Caleb choose his. They sat quietly reading together for 40 minutes while Josh and I hunted for his books. I find it funny that he didn't want to listen to my suggestions, but ended up with my offerings. He hates that I know him that well. I found a series by the author Tamora Pierce and finished it this week. It is aimed at 6/7th grade reading level, but I don't like sex/ violence in my literature, so juv fiction is for me. As I was reading it, Maggie had so many questions, I just gave her the first book to read when I was done. She is pleased with herself for following the story and has minimal intervention from me. Her decoding skills are fabulous and she can figure out almost any word, but sometimes needs help with their meanings. We also hit the sprinkler at home and the pool. Josh had a baseball game. His team won by slaughter rule in the fourth inning. It was a fun day all around.

Day 2:
After morning chores were done we headed to the pool. We spent most of the day there. We met up with friends and the kids had a great time.

Day 3:
We went to the zoo (in the rain). Josh brought along a friend that I will give credit to for keeping everyone's spirits up. Our family has been spoiled by years of zoo membership. His sense of wonder and excitement opened everyone's eyes to just how cool the zoo really was.
The rain was a bit of a downer, but soon everyone was in a poncho and had their shoes off. Poor planner that I am, I had dressed myself for a heat wave in a tank top and shorts for this lovely 75ish degree rainy day. I had to buy a hoodie from the gift shop just to survive. Because the zoo was less crowed than usual, we were able to see things for the first time like the tiger training. Next time I'm going to check the weather before we head to The Ville. Skyline chili ROCKS!!

Day 4:
We picked up an extra monkey while at the zoo, Baker monkey that is. We stole the kid's cousin Adam and brought him back to Lexington to help give his parents a break and me a breakdown! No, he was awesome and we went to the Explorium on Thursday. I had to write my cell phone number on Adam's arm because he wanted as much freedom as my own kids. The front desk people thought it was hysterical. I don't think we saw everything although we were there all day. The bubble room alone kept their attention for more than an hour!

Day 5:
With cousin Adam still in tow, we headed to Kids Place. I should have known better. The weather was not good for a pool day, but the kids and I had different expectations for Kids Place. There is a giant play structure with tubes and slides and ball pits and a trampoline. I figured it would be a great way to get extra energy out. What kids place also has is arcade games with tickets one can cash in for cheap plastic crap. The start of our trip I let them know they had to play for an hour before they could get their 4 tokens that came with admission. Adam had a blast playing in the ball pit and building a house out of funky puzzle piece blocks. My kids kept comming up to me asking if it had been an hour yet. I caved after 45 minutes. They had no clue, I'm sure it seemed as much like an eternity to them as it did me. Their tokens were gone in less than 10 minutes. They decided that they could get something cooler if they pooled their tickets. Score! Cooperation! Whoohooo! I held their tickets and sent them back to the tubes to play. Adam walked up to me a short time later and asked where the kids were. I had told them to stick with him, so I was more than angry whe I found that they sneaked off to the prize counter to scope out the loot. I kept the tickets and they will not spend them until we go back there...if we ever do.

Day 6:
The fun didn't stop on Friday. We had 2 birthday parties 3 baseball games and it was Caleb's half birthday. Having no time to prepare a (half) cake, I just gave him an IOU. He was good with that. There was plenty of junk food that day.

2009-05-29T13:26:00.001-07:00

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Christmas time

2008-12-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here at Baker Monkeys we've been having a fantastic time celebrating the holidays. We just got back from Saint Louis visiting my grandparents and will have another gigantic picture post from the trip up soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video of our monkeys (plus an extra, the Baker Monkey cousin Abby) sing their favorite Christmas song.

Pedway Tag

2008-11-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Last night Tom took Maggie to a basketball game. As usual around here the fans were obnoxious and stupid. They left at half time and did some exploring downtown. Tom showed Maggie how all the buildings with pedways were connected and that one could get completely around without going outside.

Tonight the whole family went. We scouted out the whole thing with the intention of playing pedway tag tomorrow night. We are going to make up some guidelines and set up teams tomorrow and the fun starts at dusk.

Having absolutely no money really gets the creative juices flowing. If anyone has any other free family fun ideas, send them on.

Inspired to Write

2008-09-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Josh hates it when we make him write. It's okay if he does it on his own terms, but I really want to encourage writing more than just the bare minimum to get through school. Tonight we were at praise band practice with Tom and he was acting kinda, well, eight. I offered to pay him a dollar to write me a story that was front and back of a page (he writes big and on every other line).

I started him off with a line and he responded with very little and went off again to play. I didn't want to give up so I wrote another line and asked him to alternate with me. This is what we came up with:

The day my mom was turned into a toad...

We kicked her out of the house. She was gone for good. She was on her own. (tres harsh)

Then there was no one to wash clothes or dishes.

So daddy did it. Nothing was in place. (hehe)

I couldn't find my underwear and there were plates in my dresser drawers.
Then mama's drawers made out of chocolate. I ate them all up. There was nothing left.

I had a tummy ache. I really missed my mom. I decided to go find the witch that turned her into a toad.

But it was too scare [sic] that I never went. The next day I was too busy playing game cube that I never went.

Then my brother, who is much braver then me, went and found the witch and had my mom restored to her proper form. She found my underwear!!!

Then she turned back into a toad.

The end!

Ripped!!!

2008-09-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Maggie got her first rip on Monday. In gymnastics, this is inevitable. Rips are painful, yet the first one is important to a gymnast. Everyone at the gym makes a big deal out of it. It is a rite of passage. You are one of us now. That doesn't mean everyone is happy that you are in pain, it is what it is and you have reached a point where you are serious. You ask yourself if what you are doing to your body is worth it. Do you love the sport enough to endure pain for the joy it brings you. Maggie said yes.

At any point, if she wants to change sports, it is okay with us. I do not enjoy seeing her push her body to exhaustion by holding a chin up on a bar till she falls off just to build upper body strength. I live in fear of her first major injury. Gymnastics is dangerous and physically taxing. That crazy child loves it!

Look at the smile on her face as she shows it off to the camera!
BTW...she's not the only one.

I found Maggie's kindred spirit as I was doing research on minimizing Maggie's soreness and first aid for rips. I don't know those people and haven't read anything else from their blog. I did find some really good info though. For those who are curious about rips, go here and here.

Also, if you just don't get why... here.

Big Picture Post Holden Beach Edition

2008-08-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to Sami Baker for taking all these pictures. I realized the camera I brought was dead after everyone had left for the beach.

Maggie's logo

2008-08-11T19:03:00.001-07:00

We're all geeking out a little right now

2008-07-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Giant Picture Post... Dominican Edition

2008-06-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since we posted. Along with baseball keeping the monkeys busy from dawn till dusk, we have peeked into the life of the rich jet setting folks. So here it is, in pictures, our trip to Punta Cana.

More coming soon!

Caleb's new favorite game

2008-05-02T04:19:00.000-07:00

Who has the coolest mom? Maggie, of course!

2008-03-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

In our desperate attempts to spoil our poor pitiful injured daughter I have proven my supreme coolness.

Maggie is disappointed that while in a cast (for insurance reasons) she cannot work out with the hotshots group at her gym. This very reasonable ban from the gym is in effect until May 30 (when the term ends). Her coach did a really good job working with me to create a workout that she can do at home. It just isn't the same. There must be something in the chalk that creates intense longing to punish your body. She has been a season ticket holder for UK Gymnastics since the 2004 season. She loves the "UK Gymnastic girls." During her first week in the cast she was particularly dejected, so on a lark I e-mailed the Coach of the UK Gymnastics team. I asked if the team could sign Maggie's cast.

This is Emilie Rymer (well, the back of her head) Maggie was able to watch her work on her floor routine while we were at the practice facility.

This is my favorite UK gymnast, Kristen O'Shields. She spoke with Maggie for about 10 minutes. How many college students do you know that prolong conversations with 6 yr olds?

Heather Hite, one of Maggie's top fav's from the team, made sure to find out what Maggie's favorite event was. Maggie asked her why she stopped using the Pirate's of the Caribbean theme music for her floor routine.

Hillary Ferguson, the most dynamic on floor I've seen since Michelle Gales competed for the Cats, seems really shy. It was surprising because how sassy she is during competition.

This is Coach Mo Mitchell. I am thankful he let us interrupt their workout to make my girl happy. The team had the last regular season meet to get ready for. YOU ROCK MO!!!!!!

Recovering

2008-03-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Maggie is back home from the hospital. She had surgery this morning and is now resting comfortably. She has a new movie to watch that her mother bought for her, and as you can see it made her very happy.

She'll be fine in a couple of months and will be able to resume gymnastics, but she's obviously feeling a little down about having to take a couple of months off. Any well wishes for her a greatly appreciated and can be left either in the comments section or they can be e-mailed to me at tom@tombakerguitar.com. I'll pass them on to her.

Sleep well, princess.

I didn't mean that literally...

2008-03-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

This just in from the "Spring Break" irony department...

Maggie broke her arm sledding today. This "break" thing is getting a little out of hand.

Spring? Give Me a Break!

2008-03-08T11:33:00.002-08:00

Shannon and I have both gone back to college this semester, which may help to explain why my postings have been even more sporadic than usual of late (read: nonexistent). Anyway, this week is our Spring Break. We still have to work, so we're not going to go off to the beach and get blitzed like more traditional college students. I think we'll just stay home and PLAY IN THE SNOW! Maybe Spring Break should actually take place in, I don't know, the Spring. That's just a thought. Anyway, enjoy the pictures Maggie and I took this morning.

This is killing me...

2008-01-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Impossible Quiz

Just because...

2008-01-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

Maggie's Picture

2007-12-29T05:41:00.000-08:00

Maggie drew a picture last night with her new art supplies (thanks Gran!) and wanted to share it with you all.

Happy Caleb Day!

2007-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

In honor of the fourth anniversary of our youngest baby's birth and in order to compensate for my severe writer's block (roughly nine months have passed since my last post of any great length) I have decided to re-publish some of the things that I have written about our little monkey on previous birthdays followed by an update for this year. Happy Caleb Day!

From Caleb's second birthday post:

It's hard to believe that it's been two years already.

Our baby, Caleb Robert Baker, turns two today. What is equally hard to believe is that this child, Bam-Bam, he who wields the weapons of mass destruction that our president will never find on a daily basis at his siblings and our pets; he who's life's goal is to become a Jedi Knight (although I'm almost certain that he will turn to the dark side and become a Sith like his sister before him); he of Viking Warrior attire, physique, disposition, and fighting style; he to whom the only way to properly carry a cat is upside down; he to whom the only real sport is a contact sport, even golf (I see football and ice hockey in his future); he to whom even video games are full contact and no holds barred; he of countless emergency room trips for various feats of daring-do; he who lost his first tooth (again, I see ice hockey in this boy's future) at an age (four months) younger than when most children have received their first tooth, due to his rambunctious nature and aggressive sleeping style; "Mr. Boo-Boo Head" himself; how could he ever have ever been appropriately referred to as a "baby"?

Well, he is officially a "baby" no longer (even per his mother's and grandmother's standards regarding such matters). We have a two-year-old on our hands now. A "Big Kid". One who can walk and talk and who knows sixty-seven ways to kill you with a toy lightsaber. If the first two years of his life are any indication, the next few should be pretty exciting.

God help us all.

From Caleb's third birthday:

Well, Caleb is now three. No longer a "terrible two", yet somehow still terrifying. He has traded his lightsaber fetish for a sword fetish, which is still as deadly if not quite as geeky.

He actually may be a little bit geekier. He has declared that he is a "Jousting Guy", also know as "The Green Knight". He believes that this is a viable career path. He will even site Medieval Times as proof.

He still loves contact sports, although his emphasis has changed towards boxing, which he calls "the punching one". Caleb has a somewhat disturbing love for violence that seems to be contagious, but so is his smile.

Caleb is passionate, and it seems is growing more so every day. He, for as in-your-face as he can be with his rough housing, is just as in your face with his love. He thinks pulling hair is snuggling, but he does it so affectionately that the recipient can't help but like it. He has been known to randomly go up to people and say "I like you", and mean it. When he is angry, he is angry at everybody. But when he is happy, he is happy with everybody. No one's day would be complete without Caleb telling you why he loves you. My favorite is when he says: "Daddy I love you, you don't shout at me any more." I have no idea why he would say that, really (Well... maybe a little bit of an idea -- as his Grandmother says: It's a good thing Caleb's cute! He has been verbally corrected more than a few times, sometimes at a fairly high decibel level.)

While I may not like it, and he may not like it (he has thrown fits all week about not being able to be a two-year-old any more) Caleb is growing up.

So happy birthday to my knight in shining armor. Now try not to kill your sister this year!

So has anything changed about this little powder keg? If anything, he's become even more energetic, which is great for my physique! He's gotten really interested in wrestling and exercising, which as best I can tell to him are pretty much the same thing. He grabs a hold of whoever he plans to wrestle or exercise with (usually me -- like I said it's been great for my physique!) and will not let go for any reason. He will wrap around my legs, my arms, my waist, my whatever, and hold on for dear life as I drag him, kick him, strangle him, abuse him, and otherwise try to coerce him to release me. We're getting into great shape!

He's still a violent toothless wonder and an I'm-so-cute-and-I-know-it ladies man. All the girls at his pre-school adore him. He's also developing a real love for music and singing. Yesterday his school had their Christmas music program, and Caleb hammed it up on stage along with all the others. I will close this post with some pictures of Caleb from the show (I had to end with pics, that's my thing!)

Jolly Evil Elf?

2007-12-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

The following is photographic evidence that clearly demonstrates that Santa Claus, far from being a benevolent giver of Christmas toys to all good children, is in fact the embodiment of pure unadulterated evil. (Hat tip to Heather.)

"Don't cry kid or I'll squeeze you till you pop!"

"You just keep crying, kid. Mommy's not coming. She's in my freezer."

"Wasn't this guy an extra in Killer Clowns From Outer Space?"

"LET ME GO!!!!"

"Mommy, I don't know about this. Why is his beard yellow? And what is that SMELL?"

"How much do you think I paid for these kids on eBay?"

"A little help here?"

"Huh?"

"Help me Mommy! He's like an evil Dumbledore!"

Baker Monkey Sightings!

2007-12-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

Check out each of the following pictures. Do you see what they all have in common? No, I mean besides the University of Kentucky gymnasts. Look closer, in the background. Who is that beautiful woman with the pigtails and those three adorable (if not a little sleepy) children? Why, those are some Baker Monkeys!

Maggie's Tree

2007-12-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

Maggie decided that Daddy's desk needed a Christmas tree. She took it upon herself to decorate it and I think she did a fantastic job. What do you think?

Do not press!

2007-11-17T13:36:00.001-08:00

Because every website needs a SUCK button.

Happy Anniversary!

2007-10-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Has it really been eight years?!

Take your pick. You can have the roses, which are more traditionally appropriate for anniversaries.

You can have the lilacs, which I know are your favorite but you are so allergic to them that you could die.

(Fortunately this is just on the computer, instead of in the kitchen, otherwise the white roses might be more appropriate).

You could have a random assortment of flowers in a vase.

Or you could just have a skunk with a strange name.

Hell, it's our anniversary. Have 'em all. You just have to keep the skunk outside.

Thank you, Shannon, for eight years of putting up with my sh*t.

I want one!

2007-08-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to play one of the new Parkwood hybrid (see the video above) guitars today. I have played a number of acoustic-electric hybrids including the much acclaimed Taylor T-5, and I can honestly say that the Parkwood blows it out of the water both in playability and tone.

I am thinking about posting a full review on my music website, but I just had to share this guitar's awesomeness and this blog is a lot easier to update. I promise to return to our regular Baker Monkeyness in my next post. Please forgive this guitar intrusion.

Beach Bakers!

2007-08-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

We're back from the beach. I'd love to tell you all about the trip, but alas I am tired after the long drive home and then work today. Besides, if a picture is worth a thousand words then the I must seem pretty verbose after these:

"I Loved My Locks" or "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"

2007-08-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

The following is a slide show from the most traumatic event of my life. Well, I don't guess it was that bad. Still, the first hair cut I've had in the last four and a half years was quite a change. I had sixteen inches cut off, fourteen of which were able to be donated to Locks of Love.

It's Shannon's turn now.

In other news, the Baker Monkeys are getting ready to take our annual pilgrimage to Holden Beach. While we're there we're planning to stop off at the Myrtle Beach Medieval Times so Caleb can see what a great career being a knight really is.

In the mean time, enjoy the carnage.

We're so proud of our Dragon Questing Knight!

2007-07-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

This ought to make Sandalstraps jealous...

2007-07-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

You scored as Albus Dumbledore, Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering.

Albus Dumbledore

90%

Sirius Black

75%

Harry Potter

70%

Remus Lupin

65%

Draco Malfoy

60%

Severus Snape

55%

Hermione Granger

55%

Ron Weasley

55%

Ginny Weasley

45%

Lord Voldemort

40%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

This is entirely too cool

2007-07-16T16:26:00.001-07:00

We're really f@#ing family friendly around here, d&%it!

2007-07-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

A few quick baseball pics

2007-05-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

Shannon took my camera to Josh's baseball game on Saturday. I can't take pictures very well while I'm trying to coach so she was nice enough to take them for me. She even used my camera instead of her own (which she likes much better) because I don't like waiting for her to get her film developed (she's still boycotting the digital age).

Here are a few of the pics that I liked best:

Note: There will be a super colossal gigantic enormous stupidly big picture post here as soon as Shannon's film actually gets developed. Be ye warned.

"This song has no title."

2007-05-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I decided to borrow the minivan from Shannon ostensibly because I needed to take Josh to baseball and Maggie and Caleb to gymnastics. For some reason those three don't really like to ride together in the back of the Mustang. I was just trying to cater to their wishes and make them as comfortable as possible. Well, that and the CD player in the Mustang is broken and the one in the minivan works just fine. But I was mostly just thinking of the children.

Anyway, with the possibility of enjoying some music for the evening commute available I decided to break out a CD I bought a while ago but don't really get to listen to often, Vernon Reid's Known Unknown. It's a fantastic disc, but as it's a Vernon Reid CD there are a lot of guitar pyrotechnics that don't always go over well at home with their requisite ear-bleeding volume.

The older two (Josh and Maggie) are really getting into music and its meaning. They will ask what songs are about or try to figure them out based on the lyrics. Sometimes the results are surprisingly insightful, and sometimes they're just surprising. Known Unknown is an instrumental album, so their decoding skills were over matched.

As we're driving along and jamming out to a song with a particularly cool groove, Maggie asks what the song is about. I try to explain to her that it's an instrumental song and that sometimes instrumentals have a kind of deeper meaning or emotive message to them, and sometimes they don't really have an obvious one. Also, I explain, you can tell a lot about whether there is an intended message in the instrumental by the title, as that's the only part that has any words. So Maggie, who is really enjoying this song, asks what the title is. I look down at the CD case to see. The track we are listening to is called "Voodoo Pimp Stroll". I think about it for a little while, saying nothing as I try to evaluate the situation to provide the best possible and most age appropriate response. Maggie asks again, insistently.

I'm stuck. Maggie's not the type of child that will just let things go. I've tried this before, with McDonald's and Wal-Mart, when she's asked me why I won't go to either one. I never wanted to have that conversation with her as a five-year-old. She's just not ready to understand the moral arguments. For a while just saying that it's something I don't do worked, but she's so darned inquisitive. So finally I broke down and explained point by point in great detail all of the things that I loathe about those two institutions, blowing her mind a little more than I had wanted to. All because she just won't let things go. I am not about to try to explain what a song called "Voodoo Pimp Stroll" could be about. I don't want to get into a conversation with a five-year-old that uses the word "pimp" in any way, shape, or form. I'm out of options, so I lie.

"This song has no title," is my reply. Conversation over. We pull into the gym's parking lot, park the car, and go inside, where she has much more important things to do.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

2007-04-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

Josh and Maggie just got back from going to the beach with their grandparents to quite a surprise. Although we didn't get snow for Christmas, it appears a "White Easter" isn't out of the question. It's colder right now in April than it was all December, and as you can see in the photos below, we got some snow yesterday for Good Friday.

Also, I realized something this week while I only had Caleb to care for. While it seemed like life got a little more complicated with each birth, I think that was just because we had a new baby to deal with. When they get bigger, having only one is a whole lot more difficult. Shannon and I were all that Caleb had, so I became his new best friend. That was cool for a while, but there was no let up. Whenever he was bored, hungry, or needed anything, he came to me. No matter what I was doing I had to deal with his request or the consequences of not dealing with it. There was none of that "go ask your brother to help you" stuff that I'm used to being able to do. There was no sub-letting of my parental responsibilities to a sibling all week. I'm exhausted! Well, without further ado, I present you with our wonderful Easter(ish) snow:

Requiem for a season

2007-03-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

I would apologize for the amount of time that has passed since I last posted, but that has become something of a distressing habit. These last two weeks have been especially busy, as we have been at the crossroads of basketball and baseball seasons. As I mentioned earlier, I was asked to help coach Josh's basketball team. Much to my surprise, however, I have also been enlisted to help coach Josh's baseball team. It is becoming very clear to me that if you want to be involved in youth sports, as well as anything involving youth, you pretty much just need to be willing to show up. Anyway, basketball season officially ended yesterday, and I would say that it was a very successful season, as measured by two things.

First, our team, while not particularly good, made as much improvement from the first game of the season to the last one as any team in any sport I have ever seen. Not only did we become competitive, but we actually dominated a couple of teams the same way that we were dominated in our first game. We rebounded well, we defended enthusiastically, and we had a couple of players turn into fairly reliable scoring options, especially in the lane. We worked on getting the ball inside, and like most teams that do this, when the ball did go inside consistently, good things happened.

The second, and far more important reason that the season was a success is that the kids had a lot of fun. This was most evident at the party after our last game. The seemed to really enjoy each other's company, and were all excited about coming back and playing basketball at some level next season (not all of them will be at the same age level next year).

My overall evaluation of my experience helping to coach this team is that I never knew coaching could be so much fun or so rewarding. I enjoyed playing sports when I was younger. The baseball and basketball teams that I played on were the cornerstones of my daily life when I played, occupying a majority of my energy and attention, even if I was never a particularly good athlete. This was only rivaled, and then ultimately overtaken by my devotion to guitar. Coaching has provided for me the same kind of joy that playing did, but without as much insecurity and anxiety.

Basketball season is over, but baseball has begun. I am typing now using an arm that is as sore as it has been since I gave up baseball twelve years ago, because I spent most of this week throwing batting practice. I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

Another Giant Picture Post

2007-03-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Monkeys have been busy. Josh just had his seventh birthday. We've also had basketball games and baseball tryouts. (For the basketball game that was actually on his birthday he got to guard the son of Sam Bowie. He did pretty well.) They've visited their cousin Adam and got to go to his church. Also, Maggie has, since the last time I posted, had a stomach bug, and ear infection, a sinus infection, a respiratory issue, and strep throat. Fun times. I'd love to write all about it but I'm just worn out. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

[Note: There are no basketball or baseball pictures as I'm not into posting pictures of people's kids on the Internet without getting their permission.]

From Josh's Birthday...

From 4th Ave UMC...

Brief update - More to come

2007-02-24T04:08:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. I have been shirking my duties as purveyor of Baker Monkey knowledge. I'm sorry. I've been very busy and just haven't made the time to update in a while. If it makes you feel better I've been neglecting my music site as well.

Maggie went to UK's last home gymnastics meet yesterday. Princess Pinky wrote all about it in this post, complete with a picture of my girl with two of her favorite gymnasts. From what I hear Maggie is really coming out of her shell and actually talked with these girls at length about gymnastics without the usual fidgeting and hiding. I wish I could have been there to see it.

Josh turns seven today. We're having a family party today and then a friends party tomorrow at Kids' Place. I'll do a whole new post on that soon, complete with pictures and everything. Josh's basketball team (which I have been helping coach) is doing very well. They're learning a lot and improving with each practice and game. It's been a lot of fun for me to watch these kids develop.

Caleb has been helping me coach. I think it's mostly because he's been very needy lately, particularly wanting to be around whoever is least available at the time. If his mother is cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen, or even updating her blog with way more regularity than I have been, then he wants her. If I'm across the gym trying to teach nine other kids how to rebound, then he wants me. That said, he's having fun being around the bigger kids. Plus he got to dunk on Wednesday (with some help), so he's having a lot of fun.

Like I said, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. I'd make some sort of empty promise to do better in the future, but I'm not sure that either of us would believe it.

Well, I will promise something. I'll post about Josh's birthday parties soon.

Tom

Baker Monkey sighting!

2007-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

The Baker Monkeys have been making the cyber rounds of late. They were recently sighted at Princess Pinky's, appearing in this post about whaling. I'm so proud of my tree-hugging-nature-loving-whale-saving little hippie Monkeys and their would-be activist mother.

Baker Monkeys on Ice / Giant Picture Post

2007-02-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

In honor of it being freaking frigid here I have decided to get off my lazy duff and post the previously promised pictures. Actually, I'm not sure that the two have anything to do with each other and I do find it a little ironic that my version of "get(ting) off my lazy duff" involves sitting in front of a computer. That said, it is so cold outside (2 degrees) that I was thinking of working on a new musical extravaganza called "Baker Monkeys on Ice", and I'm pretty sure that the cold has affected my brain and thus led to this little bit of inane rambling that precedes the pictures that are to follow now:

From Adam's party...

From Maggie's gymnastics...

From UK gymnastics...

From Skybourne Studios (Baby, It's Cold Outside)...

I think that's probably enough pictures for now. I hope you have enjoyed this photographic gluttony!

So, what's new in the land of the Baker Monkeys?

2007-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a little while since I've provided any updates here. That should not in any way indicate a lack of activity here at Baker Monkey central. Quite the opposite, actually. We have been extremely busy.

Josh is a basketball player now. If it seems to you like early February is a little late to be starting basketball, you are absolutely correct. While I have always striven to be a very loving and involved parent, I have never been considered to be an organized and "together" one. A few months ago I totally flaked out on getting Josh signed up on time for the basketball league he was going to be playing in. Fortunately the local Y has a second basketball session for the children of parents like me.

While that is a very good thing, they also appear to have coached that are even flakier than me. You don't believe that's possible? Josh's entire coaching staff quit just before the first practice! We went to the gym where the practice was supposed to be. We arrived early (in our sporting experience thus far "on time" is "late") and waited. And waited...

Fifteen minutes and about five phone calls later (to make sure we were in the right place at the right time) a coach for Josh's team arrived. He explained that he had just found out that he was needed to coach the team because the other coaches had decided not to coach this season after all. He is a soccer coach with the Y and has never coached basketball before, and could therefor really use some help.

To make a long story short, I am now a basketball coach.

This could be very interesting.

In other Baker Monkey news:

There's actual snow on the ground. The Monkeys got to go skiing today, and will also be doing a fair amount of snow playing over the weekend. Last weekend we went to Adam's (the Baker Monkeys' cousin) and had a marvelous time. Caleb received an awe-inspiring black eye to go along with his scar and missing tooth. Pictures of all of these events and more will be posted as soon as I have both the time and the inclination.

They Might Be Monkeys!

2007-01-23T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have been having something of an existential crisis lately. While I have suffered for years with some relatively minor depression and anxiety issues, every once in a while some kind of a stressor kicks those minor issues up a notch. It gets so bad that all I can really do is morbidly observe the passage of time (which seems to get faster every year) and know that each day is one day closer to the end. I am left wondering what it is that I will leave behind.

I have some great childhood memories. As a musician, I find that I am most connected to the soundtrack of my youth. I still vividly remember my father introducing me to Led Zeppelin because he was dismayed that I was starting to like Whitesnake in elementary school. I may never be able to thank him enough, although he has since made up for it by teaching my sons to like Three Dog Night. (If I ever hear "One is the Loneliest Number" Again...) As I reached my teenage years I got into Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and the like. When I feel most vulnerable I return to the music that got me through my vulnerable teenage years. It is almost like a fountain of youth, returning me to those days. I have in these moments...

It just occurred to me that this may be the absolute worst piece of drivel I have ever written, and that I had better get to the point of this inane, rambling, self-absorbed, pretentious, self-important, overly introspective piece of horse-shit attempt at not having to pay for actual therapy excuse of a blog post before the only two people who actually read this blog get scared away and all I'm left with is a proverbial session of talking to myself in the bathroom in the dark (not that I do that, mind you -- especially not while laying down in the tub).

I did mention that I'm in kind of a bad place right now, didn't I? Anyway, on with the blog! You may have noticed that the title of this post is "They Might be Monkeys!" This title comes from the combination of the term I use for my little miscreants... I mean angels, and the name of the band I turned to when my grunge filled fountain of youth faltered. That's right, it's They Might Be Giants. I used to love that band. I had a copy of their album Flood on cassette that I literally wore out with my Walkman. I knew all of the words to all nineteen (yes nineteen!) songs on that tape.

On a lark I happened to purchase a copy of Flood on CD the other day. Two things floored me about this album almost immediately. The first was that according to the date on the back it was released seventeen (SEVENTEEN!) years ago. I mean, I still remember when it came out! It was not that long ago. The second thing that floored me was that I could sing along to every song on the album, even though I probably hadn't heard them in the last thirteen years or so (since I replaced my Walkman with a Discman and started listening to grunge). It's weird how simultaneously young and old that made me feel.

Anyway, They Might Be Giants has been residing in our minivan since its purchase, and like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Who (from my father's youth) as well as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, The Spin Doctors, REM, The Choir, The 77s, and Counting Crows (from mine) They Might Be Giants has become a staple of muti-generational Baker musical consumption. All three of my children now know every word to "Istanbul". I couldn't be more proud.

Morning conversation about MLK

2007-01-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

The other day, as he was getting ready for school and I was getting ready for work, Josh stopped for a second and said, "I don't have to go to school on Monday because it's Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday."

I told him that I don't have to go to work, either. He was very excited about this initially, however a look of concern quickly fell over him. Josh explained that Dr. King would not be getting older on his birthday. "Do you know why?" he asked. "It's because somebody shot him."

I asked Josh if he knew why Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot. He said that he did. He explained to me that Dr. King had been shot "because somebody did not like what he was doing." Josh even explained to me the details of the shooting, including that the gun was "a big one, a rifle" and that there were three people with Dr. King as he was shot who then pointed out to the police where the shot had come from.

Getting away from the gory details and back to the part that I felt was important, I asked Josh what it was that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been doing that someone would dislike so much that they would shot him. Josh replied, "I don't know that part."

I could get off on some kind of a rant here about the emphasis in our society on the details of violence or some kind of failure in school to teach the subject matter such that children like my son could understand, but important matters such as social justice and racial equality should probably be dealt with by parents at home. So ant rant that I might go off on would probably be self-incriminating, so I'll avoid that. Let's just say that Josh and I had a good conversation after that, and I do not believe that he will answer with "I don't know that part", again.

The OJ Mayo Traveling Circus

2007-01-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

My dad, Josh's "Pops", took us to see OJ Mayo (widely regarded as the best high school basketball player in the US), potential UK recruit Patrick Patterson, and their team from Huntington play Lexington Catholic in Memorial Collisium this afternoon.

Josh gets out of the rain as we buy tickets.

The scoreboard. Doesn't it look familiar?

Josh and Pops find their seats.

Lexington Catholic warms up.

OJ Mayo dunking in warmups.

The officials get their photo op with the star.

Tip off.

Potential UK recruit Patrick Patterson shooting free throws.

Look familiar? This is where we were yesterday for gymnastics.

Excite Night!

2007-01-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

We just got back from The University of Kentucky's Excite Night for the Women's Gymnastics team. I'd love to tell you all about it but I'm exhausted, so I'll just let these pictures tell the story for me:

Mud Monster Maggie!

2007-01-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

I came home from work a few days ago to find my Maggie who love princesses, dresses, ballet, gymnastics, and only knows the colors pink and purple, she who is a girl's girl, she to whom the only store worth shopping in is Club Libby Lu, she to whom Barbie is the best possible role modle and the figure of perfection personified, my little Princess Margaret Ann the Girly-Whirl had been replace by this Mud Monster!

By the way, the boys had been playing in the mud, too. They, however, ran as fast as their little legs could carry them to avoid having this sad fact documented. Maggie was the only one who seemed proud of what she was doing. That's my girl!

This is what happens when a Tom has a digital camera...

2007-01-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

...and some Baker Monkeys out on the town (or at least in a hardware store and restaurant - no, not in the same building).

Coming soon.

2007-01-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

I know this is lame, but I do plan on writing something at some point. This will eventually be the location of all the witty little stories about my kids that I used to post on my website. I'll put up some stupid pictures and things, too. This should be fun. Or I could drop the ball on this and have it floating alone in cyber-space indefinately. Anything could happen, really.

Thank you God my food

2006-03-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

[Editor's note: This, like all posts that date prior to January 9, 2007, was originally posted at my former Woebegotten Wonderland blog that was destroyed for many very good reasons and a few pretty pathetic ones. They will all be labeled as "re-runs" here. I apologize for the blatant recycling hack-job, but the truth is I don't write that much and some of this stuff is probably better than I am likely to write any time soon. It seemed such a shame to let it go to waste.]

Shannon and I have been sick for the last couple of days. Not the kind of sick where you're a little sniffly and have a slight cough. We have been knock-you-on-your-ass-and-stay-in-bed-for-the-rest-of-the-week sick.

This occurred at a most inopportune time. It was my Spring Break from school, and it was also Shannon's brother, Pete's Spring Break as well, so he was in Lexington visiting us. Shannon and I have a kind of epic struggle over household chores. Shannon is convinced that they are my responsibility. I remain convinced that they are her's. We have remained locked in this mortal combat over household chores for the duration of our marriage (six-and-a-half years), and our house has therefore managed to maintain itself in something of a state that could be charitably described as "disarray".

When we have visitors, however (this applies only to those from out-of-town, as you friends in Lexington no doubt know) we manage to put aside our differences of opinion and get the house into tip-top shape. The house looked excellent (to us, for normal people read: "livable") for Pete's visit, and remained that way most of the time he was here. We also, since we were trying our hand at living like "normal" people, cooked meals at home that were both healthy and delicious, and all sat at the table and ate like a "real" family.

One of the things my children love to do is pray, especially when we are all together for a meal. I'm not bragging, I think that this trait has very little to do with me. I think my only contribution to their prayoral pre-disposition is whatever little genetic defect that makes them fight with each other over who's turn it is to pray. The only childhood mealtime (or other time) prayer I consistently prayed was a silent one asking God that it please not be my turn to pray in front of everybody. I guess I have always felt inadequate that way. But I'm supposed to be talking about my children, not my emotional insecurities...

Back on track. So my children love to pray. Generally before each meal we select one to lead us in prayer. That child will pray, either in the form of a song called "God Our Father" that they learned in preschool, or just by saying something like "thank you God for our good food, and for Mommy and Daddy, and all the baseballs in the world, and for guitars...", etc. They can be very thankful for a lot of the things that we take for granted. They can even be thankful for things I'm not even sure exist, but that's for another story. Shannon and I are sick, remember?

So we'd done a very good job for the first part of the week keeping the house neat and clean. Dinners are served at the kitchen table (we have no dining room) around 6:30 or so instead of in the living room around 8:00. Meals consist of a small portion of lean meat (pork chop, chicken, roast beef, etc.) and at least one serving each of fruits and vegetables. Milk, water, and juice are our beverages, not pop or Kool Aid. Dishes are put not on the counter or in the sink, but in the dish washer after every meal. Homework is checked. The children are bathed and in bed by their appointed bedtime. Life is going pretty well and I'm feeling pretty good about our system. It's really working! Why haven't we been able to do this constantly before?

Then Friday morning hits. I have an alarm clock that is set to 7:00am. I don't need it. I get up every morning before 6:30 and promptly turn it off. I'm not sure that I had heard that alarm in years... Until Friday morning. The alarm is going off and I can't get out of bed. I can't move. I can't open my eyes. I can't do anything. I remember Shannon talking on the phone in the living room and I think I remember a Sixpence None the Richer CD playing at some point. That's about it. I never really got out of bed on Friday.

[Editor's note- This condition did not keep me from watching UK beat UAB on Friday night. I have a TV in my bedroom. It actually helped that the game started so late (9:50) because I'd been sleeping all day. I had no trouble staying awake, I was well rested (albeit still immobile).]

Come Saturday Shannon is feeling pretty bad, too. I took Friday off from cleaning or maintaining the house in any way, and Shannon had her hands full with the children, so the house is starting to lose its luster. Sunday comes and Shannon is feeling worse than she was on Saturday, and I'm not much better. Dishes are piling up. Laundry needs to be done. The trash needs to be taken out in the worst way. I just can't bring myself to care. Now the children are telling me that they need to eat.

And what do we have?

Nothing.

So I pack the kids up in the car and we go to the grocery. My head is pounding. I managed to keep it together for church and band practice, but I think my head will actually split open here in the grocery store. I'm trying to look at fresh produce. I'm trying to get good food. The kids want cookies. The kids want candy. The kids want donuts. The kids want Lunchables.

Hell, Lunchables aren't so bad. I can live with Lunchables, and it shuts them up. But they're on a roll and so somehow before we leave the grocery our cart manages to acquire the making of Root Beer floats. I'm not sure exactly how that happened. But we take our loot and go home for dinner.

Shannon's in bed and not interested in eating. My head hurts too bad to consider it. So I sit the children down at the table, open their Lunchables for them, and dinner is served.

I mentioned before that my children love to pray. That's actually not entirely true. The oldest two do, in fact, love to pray and will fight the other to the death for the opportunity to do so. I have thus far been unable to impress them with the irony in this. Caleb, the youngest, is only two and has thus far shown no interest in, or concept of, prayer.

Apparently the excitement of having Lunchables and Root Beer floats for dinner made Josh and Maggie forget, for a moment, their need to be the one to pray before dinner. Caleb took this opportunity and moved right in. He bowed his head, closed his eyes, folded his hands in front of him like a Precious Moments statuette, and said, "Thank you God my food." He then clapped enthusiasticly, with a devilish grin as though he had settled, once and for all, the issue of who would be praying at our dinner table.

On a strange transitional object...

2006-02-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

An ominous start to the day...

2006-02-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

"Maggie's Dad" vs. Allan Holdsworth: May the best parent of a pre-schooler win

2006-01-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

Do you know who this man is?

I have recently emerged from behind the shelter of my "I-don't-really-play-all-that-many-solo-gigs-anymore" shell to perform what is becoming something of an annual event.

Yes, I've played for pre-schoolers again. How bad-ass-rocker is that?

It seems now that every year one of my children (or perhaps their mother) lets slip that not only does their father (or husband, depending upon who it is that actually squealed) play guitar in a band and lead worship at a church (it is a Baptist pre-school, after all) but he also has an extensive catalog of Veggie Tales songs at his disposal with which he is proned to entertain his children for hours (well... minutes actually, they are quite young and short of attention span; and let's face it, I'm not all that captivating) on end. So weeks of discussions about schedules and whatnot led to my epic three song set at Porter Memorial Pre-school today.

As far as gigs (at least the ones that I am likely to get with my apathetic self promotion abilities) go this one was not so bad. The children can't tell the difference between me and any other guitarist, so it could have very well been Allan Holdsworth who came to their school for all they cared. Actually, they probably thought I was cooler than Allan Holdsworth, because I was "Maggie's Dad", which apparently carries with it a great deal of inherent credibility.

[Editor's note- It is herein acknowledged with much regret that no school aged children, whatever their grade, are unlikely to consider Allan Holdsworth as anything other than "some old guy". However, to the writer Allan Holdsworth is regarded quite reverently as being perhaps the absolute coolest being to have ever walked the planet and one of the most amazing and influential instrumentalists of all time. It is for this reason that Allan Holdsworth is mentioned above in the manner in which he is. If you are unfamiliar with his work, do not let me find out about it. That would subject you no more hours than you would likely prefer to spend listening to a master guitarist incomparably perform his craft. Ask my wife. She'll tell you.]

The pre-school gig is far better than some of the other gigs I've played in recent years, ranging from the "solo-acoustic-coffee-shop-gig-for-tips-only-yielding-roughly-seventy-five-cents-in-nickels-as-payment-after-playing-unaccompanied-and-without-a-break-for-the-last-three-hours" gig, to the "it's-for-a-good-cause-so-why-not-play-an-hour-and-a-half-set-outdoors-in-thirty-degree-weather-while-ill-to-the-point-that-singing-is-a-great-yet-totally-unintelligible-adventure-and-oh-yeah-did-I-mention-the-next-band-no-showed-because-of-the-weather-so-could-you-possibly-play-for-another-hour-you're-such-a-good-sport" gig, to my all time favorite gig as the opening act for Karaoke Night at a Louisville pub. [Editor's note- This in no way indicates that I either engaged in the performance of or endorse in any way the engagement in karaoke. My band was merely booked to play at the pub on the same night of and to play immediately before Karaoke Night. We were the "warm up" act. The clientelle of the bar engaged in that unfortunate practice. We did not.] That was my brother's last gig as my booking agent. He would argue that it was a success because we did actually get paid. I've never in my life needed money that bad (well... apparently that isn't completely true; we did play the gig, after all).

The point (insomuch as there is a point, I guess) is that as the years have passed, I have found myself not needing to prove myself by gigging all of the time just for gigging's sake. I now do it rarely, and for fun. I can not imagine much more fun than playing for a group of my daughter's friends who honestly could not tell the difference between me and a rock star. They honestly would not have been more impressed if (let's pick somebody who's actually a "star" this time, instead of one of my idols) John Mayer came to play for their class. It doesn't get much more "rock star" to a group of four-year-olds than knowing how to play Veggie Tales songs. And they're one demographic I don't mind playing to.

Faking it

2005-12-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Tired

2005-11-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

[Editor's note: This, like all posts that date prior to January 9, 2007, was originally posted at my former Woebegotten Wonderland blog that was destroyed for many very good reasons and a few pretty pathetic ones. They will all be labeled as "re-runs" here. I apologize for the blatant recycling hack-job, but the truth is I don't write that much and some of this stuff is probably better than I am likely to write any time soon. It seemed such a shame to let it go to waste.]

I am tired.

I don't mean that I'm feeling tired right now (though I am). I mean that I am tired as a state of being. Whenever asked how I'm doing, if I were to be truthful about it, I would respond "tired".

Why am I tired?

Because I am a parent. It is absolutely amazing how little sleep you can manage to get as a parent.

If you read my previous posting you might mistakenly believe that I am only temporarily tired due to a short-term sleep deprivation issue related to caring for a sick child. Yes, the other night Josh was up all night barfing. And yes, I stayed up with him all night, holding his hand, rubbing his back, holding his puke bucket, and cleaning up his mess. But no, that is not the reason I am tired.

It may be a reason, but it is not the reason.

As I said before: I am tired because I am a parent.

When you become a parent you know to expect to initially lose some sleep. Babies cry. That's what they do. They eat. They poop. They cry. That's about it. If you've seen any movies about babies, read any books about babies, or have known anyone who has ever actually had a baby then you must surely know that babies cry. And when the baby cries all night, its parents do not sleep.

That is something everyone ought to know going into the whole parenting deal. What they don't tell you is that this sleep deprivation thing doesn't get any better.

How do I know?

I have no babies.

I have children. "Big kids" they like to call themselves. I have (accounting for upcoming birthdays) a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a two-year-old. They are well spaced. By this I mean that people who don't have children of this exact spacing tell we that they are well spaced. Parents with children of similar age differences just give me a knowing, pitying look.

To have three children this close together means that I have three children currently young enough to wake up at any given hour of the night needing a drink. Or to go to the bathroom. Or who just need to be held. Or who have an ear ache, stomach ache, head ache, or any other mystery ailment that needs immediate parental treatment and then empathy sufficient enough to allow the ailing child permission to spend the rest of the night not in his own bed, but mine.

Any child of the age of any of my children is likely to at some point subscribe to any of these aforementioned behaviors. Having so many of these children reside in my house just makes the odds favorable that it will happen tonight.

So I'm tired because my children keep needing me in the middle of the night, right?

Maybe.

But I'm not sure that I wouldn't be tired if I wasn't urgently needed for some mystery ailment in the middle of the night, anyway.

Being a parent means that I am responsible for the well being of my children. I am charged with their care.

Their protection.

Their well being. And not just their physical well being.

I am entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that they not only survive to adulthood, but become reasonably well adjusted adults when they get there. I am charged with loving them more than myself, and making damn sure that they know it.

They have to know that they're loved. Not just to academically assent to the idea that they are loved, but to experience it.

It's hard work to love someone so much, so I am quite tired from it.

But it's good work, if you can get it.

Yes, I'm tired. That is unlikely to change. I'm tired just thinking about the upcoming time when instead of having three young children who need me and know it, I'll have three teenagers who may need me even more and not realize it.

Or if they do, they'd never let me know.

I can remember seeing my parents take turns sitting awake in the living room at late hours in the night. Either one of them would be alone in a rocking chair or a recliner on any given night. Superficially they might be reading a book. Or maybe watching a movie on TV. I never thought much about it. They'd just tell me that they couldn't sleep. It seemed odd to me, but not in a way that I was inclined to devote my limited and otherwise engaged mental resources to it.

That was before I became a parent.

I get it now. I understand exactly why they would be awake in the middle of the night. I don't understand this in a way that I can adequately articulate. I just experience it.

See, to be a parent is to always be necessary. A parent's job is never done. And some nights you just have to remain "on duty", even if you don't know why.

I'm glad for these days when I do know why.

I was up last night because Maggie's ears hurt. I was up the night before because Caleb was too cold in his room. I was up the night before that because Josh was throwing up.

In ten years I may be up because I just don't know where Josh is. I may be up because Maggie might want to try to sneak out of the house. I may be up for any number of reasons that I frankly just don't wish to think about right now.

I may just be up because I might be necessary. A parent can always be necessary.

I am tired, and I will most likely remain tired for quite some time.

I'm tired, but satisfied.

There's another writer in the family

2005-11-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Is there anything else I can do to make your day worse?

2005-11-01T15:38:00.000-08:00