Hmm...

"Cause I think in the oddest way... it looks cool."

Oh.

[My 6-year old son, when I asked him why he was clipping an impressionistic color illustration from the Sunday paper."]

Third Grade; First Rate: From my son's writing folder

From my oldest son's writing folder, now that school has let out for the summer.

10/17/05

Worst fear

My worst fear is being inbarest in front of peple.  Because people laf at you and make fun of you it just does not feel right.

I trigh to stop it by not doing something to inbarest me.

---

Bravest thing ever

I thinkt he Bravest thing I have ever Done is:  My first time ever riding a two weeler.  Because I was realy scared.  Because I thaut I would fall off.

---

Brendan

I do not like my name.  Because I'ev alwase wanted my name to be shorter like Brian.  I don't like my middle name ether.  It is Munson.  I just do not like it.  My last name is okay because I'm Irish.

---

Baseball

Baseball
Is the best sport
Hitting, Catching, all good!
Baseball, Baseball, I love Baseball.
Home run!

First Grade; First Rate: From my daughter's writing folder

I lice to play with my brothrs.

---

I wonts saw a randboe.  It was fild with green, red, blue, purple.  I loved it and it was budafulle.  I love all the calrs and all the things.

---

I went on the fliinge horsis on vackashon.  It was fun and you get to grab rings.  It is reely fun!

---

I love tests.  Thae are fun.  I have hard ones.  The fun part is no looking at any wons papre.

A Valentine from my 9 Year-old Son

Two weeks after writing this to his Mom and me, he was one of the 14 kids out of 25 to make it to the travel baseball team.  Oh, how I can feel the pull between the strong and the sweet in this magnificent boy!

Things my kids have taught me

D, I'm a Dad...  and this is my chair... ahem, The Chair. 
(Available at your local Bassett Furniture Direct.)

All Dads have to have a place to dispense wisdom, to sit as they pretend to preside over their progeny.  You remember the father from Mary Poppins, don't you?  "My slippers, sherry and pipe are due at six-oh-two," and all that???  Well, it's not quite like that in my house... not even close.  But this year, in the Ninth Year of My Fatherhood, and after years of painstaking research and waiting, waiting... NOT settling for just any old wing-back, recliner, or department store knockoff, I aquired it.  The Chair.

And in this Chair of soft buttery leather, I am the recipient--not the dispenser--of pearls of wisdom from my three young ones, such as:

• "Daddy, what's a question?
  
• "Daddy, will my name still be Danny when I'm grown-up?"
  
• "But why, Daddy?
   - "I don't know, sweetheart."
  [Pause.  Whew!]
  "But what do you think?
  
• [My oldest son, watching a parade:]
  "Daddy, when will they play, "My Country tiverslee?"
  
• [After singing "I can't smile without you" to my daughter, then 3 yrs old:]
  "Daddy, do you smile at work sometimes?"

More to come

• [At Chuck E. Cheese's in January, our youngest son, 5, played the game where you shoot the water pistol into a target.  The one with the best aim wins.  I took him to the men's room just before we left.  As he's washing his hands, he dead-pans the following:]
  "Dad, I peed into the hole the whole time.  Where are my tickets?!?"