The Kids Are Alright…

As a parent, you want to know that your kids are learning the values you are trying to teach them.

The other day, Tonka came up to me and said, “There are four things you say all the time.”

1. “Leave it all on the field.”
2. “Never Stop Marketing”
3. “Go big or go home.”

My thought was…”If this is what they’ve learned from me, then I’m doing ok.”

I did explain that, there are times when it’s better to actually “go home.” Knowing the difference takes time and wisdom, but overall, I was pleased.

I should say that there was one more saying which she attributed to me: “I love you. Now leave.”

That’s what I say to them when they come into my office and begin talking…while I’m on the phone.

Still, overall…this works.

As a parent, it’s difficult to ask for more than this…

Nadia has been reading a lot of books about historical figures. They are titled “Who was so-and-so?”

“Who was Elvis Presley?”

“Who was Thomas Jefferson?”

You get the picture.

The other day, she was reading the list of titles and one was: “Who was Michelangelo?”

She turned to me and said, “Is he related to Maya Angelou?”

When Your Son Throws You Under the Bus…

I picked up Paco from school the other day so he didn’t have to go to ballet with the two girls.

He came home, did some reading, hung out with me in my office and was generally fine.

The NFO had left instructions for dinner, which is normally served around 5.15.

At 5.45, I realized I hadn’t fed him and was headed upstairs to get him set up. I knew that if he was hungry, he would have just told me.

On the way home, I saw a text from the NFO, basically saying “hey, why hasn’t the boy been fed yet?”

I saw Paco and said, ‘hey bud, let me ask you. Did you tell Mom that I hadn’t given you dinner yet?”

“Yes,” he said.

“But were you hungry?” I asked.

“Not really.”

“So, is it that you just enjoy getting me in trouble?”

He smiled.

“Yes.”

End of an Era: No more nanny

In reality, we probably waited 1 year too long in deciding that we didn’t need a nanny for our kids, but that’s beside the point.

The other day was the last day where she worked for us and she had been working for us for about 7 years.

We’d had our moments, as any employer-employee relationship would, and certainly toward the end, when I started to question the value in my mind, the emotions changed, but when she left for the last time, I got nostalgic and even a bit choked up.

Now, I’m not the most sentimental or emotional person around, but when she left, I had two realizations.

The first-the kids are growing up. You know that, of course, but sometimes the reminders are jarring.

Second-and more powerful-was a profound sense of appreciation for her efforts. For many years, she was an instrumental force in caring and nurturing these babies into the children they have become. She had reinforced the NFO and my values and served as our proxy.

When they look back on their lives, they may not remember her, but it’s pretty powerful to think about how important she was to their lives.

I am feeling a true sense of gratitude for her efforts…and, yes, I wrote her a note to tell her so.

Humbled by my son…

On Sunday, Paco and I decided that we would go on an outing together.

I would run. He would bike.

We had ambitious of a long one. I was hoping for 9 miles.

Early on, we ran into some issues. The backpack he chose wasn’t so comfortable, so I had to fix that.

Still, it kept interfering.

Then, he elected to ride across the ford in the creek, which made his shoes slippery.

His feet were wet and at one point, he slid off the bike.

He started to cry and said his leg was really hurting. We were nearly 3 miles from home, the NFO was out, and we didn’t really have anyone to call to come pick us up.  From a close examination, I didn’t see any external signs of injury.

At this point, I was torn. I really felt the need for a long run. Yes, call me selfish and I was concerned that he wasn’t being “tough enough.”

I asked if we could go farther and he said yes.

Soon thereafter, I noticed another problem. His bike tires weren’t properly inflated, making the ride all the more difficult for him.

After a while, he said he couldn’t bike anymore.

Though I did  my best to hide it, I am sure he picked up on my frustration at having the “vision” of the outing ruined. Not really the outing, more like my exercise routine.

He offered to run next to me, but I knew that wouldn’t work, so I stopped.

We started walking in silence. I was wheeling the bike.

Both of us were just trying to deal with our emotions.

It was a really nice day (albeit a bit windy), but we were stewing in our own feelings.

At one point, he turns to me and says, “Abba [Hebrew for dad], I am sorry.”

My heart melted and I felt smaller than my 8 year old.

I immediately turned to him and said, “Paco, you don’t need to apologize for anything. I am the one who should be saying I am sorry. You’re more important than any run and I didn’t make you feel that way.”

From there on, we had a great time, talking about things that we never would have had he been biking and I been running. We both were able to look on the proverbial bright side.

I think every Father wants his Son to grow up to be better than he is.

I am glad that it my boy is on that path.

Israel in 2013-Hannukah in the Land of the Maccabees

Unlike my personal and professional life, I take a very laid back approach to travel, particularly with kids.

Long ago, in my backpacking through Europe days, I gave up on the notion of “trying to do it all” and instead take a mentality of “whatever you are doing, you are doing in <place you are visiting>.”

Now, that doesn’t mean I just sit in a café all day and work on my laptop and, of course, try to marry this with my philosophy of “do things that are unique to <place you are visiting>,” but it’s a balance.

In short, my goal is “one big objective per day” and then everything else is bonus. I don’t want the travel experience ruined by the “we have to get here” mentality and not being able to appreciate the subtleties of a location like “what are rest stops like here and why?” or “how do people shop?” and more.

Ok, enough background. On with it.

Background

We found the deal of the century on Turkish Airlines ($700 RT per ticket), which everyone universally agrees is a great travel experience, so I was of the mindset of “whatever we do in Israel, it didn’t cost that much to get us here “. Plus, between it being Thanksgiving time and Hannukah, the stars were aligned…or should we just say that yet another miracle occurred.

Base of Operations

One of the challenges of any travel scenario is establishing your base of operations. Fortunately, my brother-in-law lives in Hashmonaim, which is near Modi’in. The location is ideal, about halfway in between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The only downside is that Foursquare seems to think it is Palestinian Territory.

The Phrase that Sums Up Israel

I was entering the bank in Jerusalem and the security guard asked me a simple question: “Do you have a gun?”

I said “no,” and moved on.

But in that moment, you get a rich appreciation for the complexity of life here.

Agree? Discuss below.

Daily Goals

Day 1-Technology and Business

Knew it would be challenging because of kids’ jet lag (though I have to say they were absolute, 100% rockstars on the flight over. 3 iPads were deployed and the kids didn’t even get up once on the flight from DC to Istanbul—not even to use the bathroom).

As a result, the NFO was very accommodating in granting me one “business day.” Not only do I like this for the benefit of building the personal and professional network, but one of my favorite things in every trip to Israel is to understand how the Israeli business and technology sectors are evolving. As the home of Start-up Nation and the country with the 3rd largest number of public companies on the NYSE (after US and Canada), in my opinion, you can’t understand modern Israel without investigating this side of the story.

I was aided in my efforts this time by the indefatigable and unparalleled Jeremy Lustman, who heads up the DLA Piper office in Israel and is mega plugged in. He set up 2 solid meetings for me.

Israel’s prowess in technology based on military/defense needs continues (as it must) and I’ve long said that the irony of the ongoing Arab war/vilification of Israel is that its existence is what gives Israel so much potential and wealth.

Places like Herzliya reflect this. With the names of pretty much every technology company you can think of on buildings, it’s a testament to the recognition of the world’s largest companies of this reality. The proof is in the dollars.

What I also saw, however, was that Israeli companies, which historically have been very weak at marketing are starting to turn that around.  It’s something I saw a few years ago and I think is a reflection of the natural evolution of the country’s business leaders. More international experience in terms of management and understanding of the expectations of what it takes to survive and thrive.

Day 2-Jerusalem of Gold

No trip to Israel is complete without a trip to Jerusalem, the ancient and modern capital of the Jewish state and the epicenter of Judaism as a religion.

Still, that emotion is overcome by the fact that, well, it’s really a hassle getting in and out of town by car. Still, we deal with it, right?

We stopped at Mahane Yehuda, the big, open air market, where all types of fruits, vegetables, fish, and more are sold. While the NFO and the kids walked through there, I was able to meet up with some longtime friends on Ben Yehuda (the main pedestrian mall) including Noa Choritz, Neil Gillman, and Gil Kezwer. 

I like maintaining relationships…that’s no secret, but I love hearing the diverse perspectives of those who have lived here for a while. Some have become more right-wing (though I heard the best statement of all time from Gil’s wife, Randi who said, “I have become more right wing but I realize that it takes both wings to fly.”)

People and walking…those two things are fail safe ways to enjoy any trip anywhere.

After a short lunch at the Village Green (great vegan/vegetarian food), we set off on foot to the Old City, making our way down through the Shuk (market), we arrived in mid-late afternoon at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site and the last remnant of the 2nd Temple.

For many, it’s a spiritual place and a time for reflection. My last few visits there didn’t really hit that high mark for me. This time, after stuffing a special note into the Wall, as is the custom, my nephews, Paco, and I were sitting on some chairs watching people do their thing and I had a moment of spirituality myself, one where I felt the weight of Jewish history on my shoulders. I felt like I had to impart some of a sense of history, as my friend Jen Pearlman says “of living vertically,” so that these boys would really understand why this place was of special importance and why it needed to be protected and defended.

An awesome feeling indeed and I did my best. A different type of spirituality, outside of myself, I suppose.

One of the things that always strikes me about Israel, but Jerusalem in particular is how you see Arabs going about their daily business and…no one really cares. They are a part of the fabric of life here. It’s stark primarily because of the opposite situation. I believe you would be hard pressed to find the capital of an Arab country where you would see religious Jews openly identifying themselves and walking with zero concern for their personal safety.

Day 3 and 4-Take It Easy

As Day 3 and 4 were Friday/Saturday, things tend to be a bit slower (well, hectic leading into the Sabbath) and then quiet (depending on where you are) on the actual Sabbath. We took the kids to a local park and then had a great time with my brother-in-law and his family.

Day 5-Go North, Young Man.

On this trip, I was determined that my kids learned that there was more to Israel than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. On our previous visit, we had planned to go South, but, well, there was a war with Gaza, so we couldn’t do that.

This time, we thought our luck would be better in the North, so we went to Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee (the lowest freshwater lake in the world), having a nice lunch on the promenade. On the way, we were struck by the beauty of the open land around it, the rolling, rocky hills and the agricultural wonder that has occurred there in the past 60 years.

Tiberias is one of the 4 holy cities of Judaism (Hebron, Safed, Jerusalem) and was the place where the Talmud (Jerusalem version) was codified because Jews couldn’t live in Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba rebellion against the Romans in 135.

Unfortunately, for a city that has so much to offer, it really shows its age. It’s like the city got left behind by time and is stuck in the 1960s. What’s worse, in my opinion, it seems like they are leaving a ton of money on the table since the place is a mecca for Christian pilgrims (yes, I get the multi-religious semi-pun) because of the proximity of Nazareth, the miracle of the fishes, sermon on the mount, etc.

It’s a shame.

But not nearly as big of a shame as what happened to the tomb of Maimonides. Arguably the greatest Jewish mind of all time, he is buried in this city in a glorious tomb.

I was there about 20 years ago and it was marvelous and spiritual. Now, there’s a massive iron sculpture above it (which isn’t so bad), but the travesty is a white Home Depot-like fence that splits it down the middle and serves as the divider between men and women (since people tend to come and pray at his grave).

Now, I get that men and women are supposed to be separate during services and I’m ok with that, but this is a freaking grave…not a synagogue and the morons who put this piece of crap have turned a beautiful piece of art into nothing more than a utility. The opposite of how it should be.

It’s kind of like splitting the Mona Lisa down the middle and saying “ok, you can look at half the canvas and you’ll appreciate Leonardo just as much.”

Ugh. Embarrassing and silly.

Not that I don’t understand the reasons for why the fanatics who did this, did this. It’s just that I don’t agree with it at all.

That night, we stayed in a quaint Zimmer-style cabin near Moshav Zippori (itself a historic place). I really liked it.  Relaxing, peaceful…and great wi-fi.

Day 6-Onto the Heights

When you see the Golan Heights up close and think about the military challenges that faced Israel in the 1967 war, you can’t help but be in awe that they were able to accomplish what they did.

Today, the vistas are breathtaking (even with the fences that identify live minefields), but under heavy fire? Going uphill?

Are you kidding me?

Once you get to the top though, it’s like the Great Plains…flat, peaceful, few trees, serene. I felt so at peace when we arrived in Avnei Eitan, a cooperative of about 100 families calmly situated in, well, the middle of nowhere…and about 10km from the Syrian border. 

The reason for our visit to this outpost was the “Automatic Dairy” where the cows go through a machine called the “Astronaut” which is, well, just fantastic.

Each cow had an RFID chip around its neck and it enters a massive machine 3 times per day. The chip tells the machine which cow it is. The machine knows things such as how much milk the cow gave last time and the entire history of the cow. Frankly, it’s and Electronic Medical Record for each cow (they can do it for cows, just not healthcare.gov website).

The cow is on a scale, so the weight is recorded and the proper amount of food is distributed.

Meanwhile, 4 suction cups are attached to the udder of the cow but only after the teats have been cleaned with a brush (like a car wash) and their exact location targeted and pinpointed by laser. As each of the 4 compartments are drained, the suction cup drops away until all are done. The teats are washed with some anti-biotic spray and the gates open (even if the cow isn’t finished eating). Precisely 17 seconds later, a shock is delivered in order to encourage the cow to leave.

Of course, after the first few times, all of the cows leave at the 15 second mark. No muss, no fuss.

This technology, which costs about $150,000 has enabled the dairy to move from 10 cows to 75 with very limited additional increase in manpower. In fact, our tour guide told us that now she is able to leave the dairy, which she wasn’t able to do before (or someone had to be there) and they can manage/measure the entire process…from their iPhones!

I loved this tour as it reflects the ingenuity and spirit of innovation that is Israel.

On the way up to the Heights, I was telling the kids about the history of the 1967 War and the challenges of scarcity/resource allocation and how “necessity is the mother of invention.” (I also introduced them to the Knesset-Israeli parliament process and they quickly understood why it was such a challenge!)

The machine isn’t Israeli-made (it’s Dutch), but the point was made and they saw how the operation of the dairy could scale because of technology (something I am always happy to have them see!)

Gamla-The afternoon took us to Gamla, aka “The Masada of the North,” a secluded location that served as a refuge for Jews who were trying to escape Roman persecution. Tragically, the 9,000 people there all died, choosing suicide instead of slavery at the hands of the Romans when their situation became desperate.

We took a moment to hear from my brother-in-law about this time in Jewish history while on a 1 hour long like over the hills and terrain, absolutely breathtaking and well worth it. Joined by a longtime friend, Shmuel Goldman-a resident of the Golan-we had a chance to just soak in the earth.

Over 20 years ago, before a trip to Israel, a family friend gave me her advice about how to experience it. To this day, I remember it: “Walk the Land.”

And I do, every time I am here.

Other Observations

1. New Highway 6 is great.
2. A few people talked about Iran. No one talks about the Palestinians.
3. I still can’t understand why coffee from pretty much any shop in Israel is better than most places in US. Certainly better than Starbucks (which isn’t in Israel, btw. They gave up and left due to strength of coffee culture).
4. I popped a Golan SIM card into my Nexus 4 and had connectivity everywhere. Great stuff.
5. Waze is even better in Israel because EVERYBODY uses it. Really helpful for crowdsourcing traffic.
6. As some of you know, I enjoy checking in on Foursquare. Not only can I find friends and suggestions in the area, but it’s a diary for where I go. I was a bit disappointed to see that the Golan Heights, according to them, are part of Syria and Hashmonaim, where my brother-in-law lives is part of Palestinian Territory.

No need to worry…I sent the issue along. We’ll see what happens.

Ok, I cranked this out all in one day. Random stuff that I will realize that I forgot and report on last few days to come.

And Poof, It’s Gone

In the past 2 months, Nadia (age 5.5) has exploded as a reader. She’s also figured out how to shower herself.

So bedtime, which used to consist of the NFO and me giving baths and reading books, has morphed somewhat.

We’ll still read a book to her on occasion, but more often than not, she’s reading to us or just to herself.

All those years of giving baths to the kids have come to an end.

Sure, on occasion, we’ll still do it, but it’s more the exception than the rule now.

I’m ok with it. After all, I didn’t plan on giving them baths at age 25, so it had to end sometime. Still, appreciate the milestone.

On to the next one

Ordinary Dad Day

I came home from a long road trip thinking “I need to recalibrate and focus on the kids.”

So, when they got home from school, I made a point to go outside and just toss the football with Paco, to listen to Tonka as she relayed in extreme detail how she fulfilled her duty as class representative, helped them with some math challenges on the iPad, and read Amelia Bedelia with Nadia (who is making fantastic strides).

After showers, Paco and I played an improvised basketball game which had me rolling on the floor laughing, my stomach and cheeks were hurting.

I stared in wonderment as Nadia sounded at the words and I took a “mental snapshot,” thinking that this was the time I should be cherishing.

And I did.

Later that night, I watched this emotional video that my own mom sent me and it all felt right.

It’s not easy-daily-to do this, which is why these reminders are so poignant.

I blog about them because it helps make me remember to focus and cherish.

 

Watching the Girl Grow Up…

It’s dawned on me recently that Tonka (9 years old) is in a transformational stage.

She’s not quite little girl and she’s not quite pre-teen/pre-adolescent.

Sometimes she displays a maturity well beyond her years. You can have full-on conversations with her about important and real concepts such as responsibility, death, decisions and their consequences and much more.

On the other hand, sometimes she reverts back to behavior that would be more typical of a much younger child.

It’s served as a wake-up call for me to re-think how I deal with her and how I relate to her. What’s the best parenting approach for her?

It’s a reminder as well that change is a constant and adapting to that change is a key to survival in every aspect of life, particularly parenting.

That aside, it’s a joy to see her growing up.

When losing a negotiation feels great…

Paco has become quite the ferocious and passionate Monopoly player recently.
He’s always asking anyone who will listen, if they will play with him.
Mind you, I don’t let him win. Ever.
But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t absolutely CRUSHED me a few times. He has.
What’s more, in addition to his burgeoning real estate tycoon skills, he’s become quite the negotiator, even outside of the game.
The other day, we were walking home together.
He wanted to play Monopoly.
I wanted to take a nap.
We agreed that if he completely read a new book he had just received, he could wake me up from the nap and we would play.
I thought the book was about 200 pages, so I was confident I would get in at least 2 hours. (He is a fast reader).
When we got home, I noticed the book was about 90 pages and immediately realized I was in trouble.
Paco recognized the same thing and as I attempted to renegotiate the deal, he knew he had me over a barrel.
What he managed to do in the next 4 minutes, without backing down, was extract a series of concessions from me to enable a 2 hour nap.
The details aren’t important. What’s notable is how he saw the opportunity and leveraged his position.
Yes, I was proud…even in defeat.

My 4.5 Year Old Prefers Decaf

Nadia came down to my office the other day. She looked at my coffee and said, “can I have some?”
It was 6pm and whereas I’d give her a small sip earlier in the day, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I said, “Sorry, no.”
“Ok,” she replied, “can I have some Decaf?”
I chuckled…and made her some.

First Day of School

I remember always being nervous on the night before the first day of school. Now, I’m just a bit sad.

It’s funny in a way.

During the summer when the kids are home, there are times when I think “wow, I would really like some quiet time so I can focus and not get interrupted every 3 minutes.”

On the other hand, I love being able to go upstairs and see them pretty much whenever I wanted. They are my “water cooler” break and we had a great time.

Today, however, was the first day of school. My kids didn’t seem nervous (a good thing), but after they left, I realized that I missed them already. And it had been 20 minutes.

Made me realize how fleeting the time is.

The Liberty Bell and the Chinese

A short family vacation found us in the City of Brotherly Love and in 1 super strong day, we were able to see Independence Hall and the room where the Declaration was signed, the Liberty Bell (which has a great exhibit telling the story of how the world views and appreciates its symbolism), and the US Mint, where they make over 30 million coins per day (if they want to).

The NFO and I have certainly put our kids on the path to being full fledged history buffs and I think they really do get the sense of history from the places we visit, so in that respect, a total victory.

I hadn’t been to this part of Philadelphia in maybe 30 years or so and I thought it was really well done. The tour guide in the Hall probably could have benefitted from a microphone, but it was time appropriate and very informative.

One thing I’ve noticed about family vacations these days is just how difficult it is to truly “check out.” Emails come in (and even though I have my auto-responder on), I still feel the urge to check/respond. I mean, either I do it in a multi-task way or I pay for it when I “get back,” right?

One moment of irony that I know my friend, Dave Sloan, a Philly native no less, will appreciate.

There was a HUGE group of Chinese teenagers on a tour (I impressed them because when they told me where they were from, they said “North east part of China,” and I said, “Oh, near Harbin?” but I digress )

I guess I was just aware of the fact that here were all of these Chinese students, visiting the cradle of American (heck, world) Democracy and many of the values that are core to the experience are either forbidden or foreign (for now), in their homeland.

Wonder how rising wealth in China and international travel will play out in the years to come.

All in all, a great day. One in which we truly “left it all on the field,” and (we hope) were able to continue to instill our kids a sense of curiosity.

The Art of the Video Game…and Asian Heritage Day

It was humbling.

I took my kids to the American Art Museum to see an exhibit about the Art of Video Games and one of the exhibits was Pac Man. (Here’s Paco playing it for the first time).

Another was Super Mario Brothers.

Man, my childhood is in a museum…and all of this coming in my 40th year…hello mid-life

What was great to see, as a technophile, was the wall of video game console evolution starting from Atari and Commodore 64 all the way up to the modern day. Just amazing to see how it has all progressed.

As an extra bonus, when we arrived, we walked into the beautiful atrium (a must see, if you haven’t visited yet) and we ran into Asian/Pacific-Islander heritage week.

Frankly, the kids loved that more than the Video Games (and that’s saying something) because they were able to make clay fortune cookies, decorate masks, and see a traditional Chinese dance troupe wearing the two-person dragon costume. Throw in some Indian dancers and Filipino music and you have a winner.

The Video Game exhibit is apparently going on tour. It’s not huge and it is fun. I didn’t get to read that much, but it does change your perspective on the importance of Gaming in our culture (more and more so), plus give you some perspective on the pace of technological change.

Related articles

• Take a stroll through 'The Art of Video Games' (news.cnet.com)
• The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect - book and Smithsonian exhibition (boingboing.net)
• Video games enter realm of art at Smithsonian (alternet.org)
• Should video games be considered art? (newscientist.com)

How to keep your kids believing in Santa…

Met a fascinating guy on the train a while back. We got to chatting. Nice fella. Canadian. Well, that’s redundant, but anyway.

So, at some point, we start talking about our kids. His daughter is 8 and this year, she finally caught on that it was he, George, who was the one dressing up as Santa every year.

Now, George, bless his heart…wanted to keep his daughter’s innocence alive for just a bit longer so after everyone in the family gathered around Santa for the annual family picture, George sent the picture to a friend.

That friend then Photoshopped George (that would be him standing behind Santa with the goatee) into the picture.

George then showed the picture to his daughter saying, “see, I’m not Santa, I was right there behind all of you.”

Imagination Stage...

Mars Playmobil 107 poppetjes 2 (Photo credit: Henk-Jan van der Klis)Our kids are just at such a wonderful age right now. The three of them can play for hours all together using their imagination and a few props.

Massive forts in the basement out of chairs, pillows, blankets and whatever odds and ends are available.

Taking a set of foam blocks, combing it with some Playmobil figures and erecting elaborate housing structures and entire worlds within. Matching, organizing, debating, cooperating. When you step back and appreciate it, such a glorious thing to behold.

I love it so much.

Please Turn Off Your Cell Phones…

As children have done for generations, ours put on a homemade “show” the other night. Full of dancing, tricks, and displays of talent, it was a wonderful experience.
There were tickets, souvenirs, and even a program.
My favorite part, however, was the beginning when they said “Welcome to our show. Please turn off your cell phones.”

Earning the Super Bowl..a lesson in work and reward

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

After the NFC and AFC Championship games, Paco asked me if he could watch the Super Bowl.

I told him that he had to earn it.

So, we set up a checklist of things he had to do, including

• reading (we were trying to get him self-motivated)
• Math enrichment
• practicing Guitar
• and fantastic behavior (we’d had a few reports from school that were not super glamorous)

Like his father, he’s motivated by these types of achievement goals.

We also set up point levels…so he could earn anywhere from the 1st quarter all the way up to the whole game.

To the boy’s credit, he executed relentlessly and got 59 out of a possible 60 points…so he got to watch the whole game.

The hope is that he would (through this approach) learn to love reading, guitar, math in their own right, so we’ll see if that works.

Of course, he said to me the day after the game “I need another checklist to earn something,” so not sure.

Still…I am super proud of his ability to stay focused and execute the plan.

Jamestown Settlement…

Of the 3 days on our winter vacation and the numerous places we visited, the NFO and I thought that the one which gave our kids the best sense of history and stimulated their curiosity the most was the Jamestown Settlement museum.

While the 26 minute introductory movie was a bit over their heads, the outdoor portion (a Native American village, the Jamestown colony fort, and replicas of the ships) was a home run.

The kids LOVED playing on the ship, grinding the corn, removing the fur from the animals and all of the demonstrations.

Thanks to Uncle Walt (Disney, that is), they knew about Pocahontas, of course, so they were primed, but this one was well worth the money and the time.

Definitely recommend it.

Parenting and the Fear of Failure II

You may recall that one of the areas I was trying to work on with Tonka was to help her get over what I considered to be an unacceptably high fear of failure.

I got some good advice from blog readers and developed a hybrid model.

On our winter vacation, I used that approach to convince her to go down the “Tornado” slide (the steepest one) at the Great Wolf Lodge.

She did.

The whole way down, I just watched her face, particularly enjoying how it turned from fear to excitement as she realized it was fun and she was safe.

It felt good to give that to her.