The boy's award

Last night we attended the boy's Water Polo end of season banquet. I know I have that tunnel vision that a lot of parents get. Even when your child is in a team sport, your eyes stick on your own child. Last night, though, I was struck by the caliber of the kids in this program. The team captain, a senior, last night got up in front of the entire group of parents and kids and addressed them with such candor; unafraid to say that these are the most intimate friendships he's made in his life, that this team has brought him so much joy, that these guys have his admiration with how they evolved as a team and how they always watched out for each other... I was impressed. And those boys didn't tease or cajole or cat call. They nodded their heads, gave enthusiastic applause, and were candid themselves with their admiration for their captain and each other.

Enthusiasm is alive and well in high school. Who knew?

Because of our world stopping 2.5 inches of snow last week, the banquet had been rescheduled. Unfortunately that meant that the boy's JV coach was not in attendance last night. Drew already had a vacation planned. Instead he sent notes on each player. Here's what he had to say about our boy:

"Striker a.k.a. The Boss. He rarely missed a practice and never gave me any trouble. (He must save all the trouble for me. - MH) Too bad he won't get tall seeing how his dad is so short."

Striker also got the Most Improved Player award which is pretty awesome. It was voted on by the other boys on the team. Kristen, the head coach, said she completely agreed with the team's assessment with Striker's performance.

As we were chatting about the award and how great it was that he got it, he revealed, "I voted honestly, so I voted for myself." Hah!

Politician in the making.

BTW: another thing about our epic 2.5 inches of world stopping snow. Turns out that Bainbridge Bakers donated a cake for our event last night. Because our event was cancelled last week, Bainbridge Bakers made the cake TWICE! This was the most EPIC Chocolate Cake ever! It was HUGE and it defeated me and Hubby. We had to split our one piece. Amazing. Next time you're in Bainbridge Bakers, thank them for me, okay?

Anti-crap Christmas

This year I'm requesting something completely different for Christmas. My kid's aunts and uncles will always call asking what to get my kids. When they were much younger, it was very easy. They'd ask for crap:  Spiderman crap, Hot Wheels crap, Dora crap, Barbie crap, Groovy Doll crap, even *gasp* American Girl doll crap. That last one was pretty pricey crap. But this year, for my kids (at least the older ones) I'd like to get experiences.

The boy is asking for a zippo lighter, an ove glove, and an Airsoft gun. Those first two because he'd like to have them in his camping gear. His last ove glove was damaged. Instead, I'm asking him to consider a visit to the shooting range with his uncle, or maybe a camping trip, or maybe a class with the NRA to improve his marksmanship. Ooh, what about a paint ball scrimmage? See, these are great ideas!

My 9 year old princess needs to think about less crap. She's pretty disorganized. Typically things that she loves, she loves hard and then forgets them after a week. However, she's really into creating costumes for her dolls right now so I'm thinking maybe a set of sewing classes or maybe knitting classes. She also likes beading jewelry so maybe a class for that too. She's in Aikido and will be testing soon. She could use a bigger gi. She's also been on my case to bring her to the Girl Scout store to use up her cookie dough gift card she earned last year. On the other hand, I sure could use an agent to get her some modeling gigs. I don't even know how to start with that one. 

My 5 year old just wants crap. But here's what is fun! She loves reading. She's amazing at addition thanks to her big brother who has been quizzing her on math facts since she was probably 3. She also loves playing on the DS or will take off with my phone and change all the settings. Books are always a hit and generally not crap. Just f.y.i.:  I don't like Berenstein Bears, Dora, Clifford, & Diego books. Don't even get me started on Amelia Bedelia & Curious George books. I grit my teeth and get through them but I can't stand reading them. Knowing my brothers, that's the only kinds of books they'll get her. *sigh*. But we both LOVE Eric Carle books, simple chapter books, Arthur books, and fanciful picture books. 

May your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be less about crap and more about experiences.