Chores

DAD believes children should have chores, regular areas of responsibility to help contribute to the family's well being. He was taking out the trash by himself by age ten. He was expected to do it on his own without being told. When the trash was full his parents expected him to notice it and pull it out of the can, haul it outside, and replace the bag. Once he "owned" the chore, he took pride in doing it. He wants his children to have the same experience, pride of ownership.

And free labor ain't bad either.

Dad thinks it is not too early to start training the Twins. So when he noticed some packing material that needed to go out, he made a game of it. The object was to get the box down to the dumpster. Each child was to take turns, or both were to help each other carry it to its destination. Dad would do the final lifting and heaving into the dumpster.

The trash to be taken to down was a box their bike came in. At first there was discord. They fought over understanding the directions. They fought over how to accomplish the task. Dad let them fight. He only made it clear that this was the task, they were to accomplish it, they were to figure it out, and he was only there to monitor their labor while he figuratively drank Mai Tais from the hammock. They can work together, they have done so before, but this instance differed because Dad asked them to do it. They had not mutually agreed to do it before making the effort. The reader should understand that when they want to cooperate, to get into the kitchen for example, they can shame Seal Team Six in their silence, efficiency, and efficacy. Taking an empty box out should be a minor task for them.

Each tried handling it on their own. EJ, as is his nature, gave up easily. There was little incentive for him to move it the 100 yards by himslef. Buggy as is hers, tried to show him how to do it and then direct him to do it. They fought, made efforts, and bickered some more. Dad was undeterred. The task was not accomplished, his drink (being patience) was emptying fast, and soon the sun would move into position where he was no longer shaded by the silver leaf maple while lying in his hammock in the court yard. He called the troops to order and demonstrated how they could both work together to get the unwieldy box moved.

Not five minutes later they were managing to move it down toward the goal.

Dad put more effort into getting them to take out the trash than he would have just doing it on his own, but the lesson was eminently more valuable.

Everbody get Naked!

JUST like no Parent need give the command, "Everyone act wild and crazy!" for the Twins to actually run around and act wild and crazy, no one need give the order for them to disrobe. The Twins do it on their own accord for reasons that Dad just does not know. It is the new two-year-old thing he guesses.

Early today Dad dressed them for the day and set about cleaning up while they watched a little TV. His antennae went up though as he progressed through his chores. The placid environment alarmed him. Something was wrong. There should have been at least a chirp, squeal, bark, or squabble. That there was none meant that both were mesmerized by the stupid show on TV they both dislike, or they had found a new and inappropriate way to entertain themselves.

Clothes? On the floor.

Diapers? Don't ask, but the same place.

Sit on Dad's couch again? Only after heavy disinfecting.

The blankets were washed and children reprimanded.

Developing so Fast

THE following are pictures of the Twins mastering climbing obstacles they were not able to complete just a few short weeks ago.

Buggy asks, "What's the rope for Daddy?"
Dad dryly responds, "Boys."

Dad's heart swelled with pride. She had attempted this three times before today and given up in frustration. She doesn't like giving up. Dad doesn't like to hear her whine when she gives up and gets frustrated. Then, on another day she impressed him again.

Going up the climbing wall at Rocket Ship park, she gave up half way up. She'll be up and over it before the New Family leaves though. She is determined and has a strong will. Meanwhile on the other side of the park.

EJ was intimidated by this climb down before. Today though he decided it was time to cross this off of his bucket list.

EJ is not as motivated to master climbing as is his sister so Dad was happy to see him attempt it and complete this climb down. Check out the distance between the rungs. That is no small gap for three foot tall kid.

Buggy, having seen her brother do it, decided she had to do it too. Once down, she had to go back up it.

The spacing of the rungs present the biggest challenge on the arc ladder, it was a pretty far step for a little stride. But it was easy for them because they could see their next step. All they needed to do is look and tentatively place their foot out onto the next rung and then shift their balance forward. The real challenge would come a moment later on a different part of the playground equipment.

The difficulty of this climb down is that the child has to turn around and come down blind and butt first. She cannot see the rung below her. She has to rely on upper body strength to hold on while she feels for the rung below with her foot.  Buggy's upper body strength is no where near as strong as EJ's, so this is a real test for her. And should she decide to abort the climb while her body weight is dangling over the edge, she would have to pull herself back up. Dad ain't gonna help. He is too busy listening to and smirking at Uptight Moms telling their five-year-olds, "No, no, Millard, that is for big boys." He might laugh if she falls, but lend a hand to help her complete her failure? No.

It took some doing on her part, but she accomplished it. Dad offered a high five. She ignored him and ran off to play elsewhere. Fortunately Dad got some huggy-lovey from EJ later.

Worst Idea Ever

WHEATON, the town the New Family is moving from, is a great family oriented place with excellent parks. Some offerings, however, are less appealing.

As much as Buggy would love to play in that mess, it just ain't happening. 

Safetytown

ONE of the many parks Wheaton provides is this scale model of its downtown designed to teach children how to be safe by following directions and obeying signs and signals.

Update on the Home Sale

THE New Family has had their home under contract for sale since July 15. Since then there have been additional negotiations over various repairs. The buyer's home inspector noted several things in his report that could pose a hazard to occupant's health and safety. Dad, being trained in audit amongst other areas, did not want to rely on the speculative assertions of the buyer's professional, so he hired his own professionals to advise him and make repairs as necessary.

With those deficiencies that pose a risk to health and safety corrected, the buyer accepted, the major hurdles that could have prevented closing or closing on time have been crossed. The repairs were not the biggest hurdle though. The biggest hurdle was the appraisal. Similar units in the area went under contract at a certain price, but the deal fell through after the appraisal came in significantly under the proposed sale price. Mom and Dad, under the advisement of a Realtor, priced their home and negotiated down from there to a price that might reasonably be the upper bound of the appraisal.

They will have to vacate by August 28, 2014. Having not yet purchased a home, this presents a challenge to the Family. Until they move into their next home, they will stay in temporary quarters like an extended stay hotel. Those, while nice for the business traveler, are not great places for two two-year old Twins. So they are free to buy a home without the contingency of selling one, they will still be under pressure to vacate the temporary housing.

So far they have investigated Grand Rapids MI, Floyd county IN, and Newburgh IN as possible places to live. They will look at another place in Indiana, the area around and including Carmel. So far most of the areas have their pros and cons, but none has been compelling.