How much homework is too much?

My daughter is in the fourth grade.  She brings home homework that requires me to sit down with her for two hours, either to help her understand it, or to motivate her to do it.  Many nights she's up until 10 p.m. doing homework, when her bedtime is 8:30.  I'm wondering: is she getting too much homework?

I try to discuss this topic with my teacher friends, and I start out with this: if I'm going to be spending two hours a day helping my child with homework, I might as well home school her.  

On every occasion I get the e-e-e-e-e-evil stare!!!!  Then my wife says, "she's a teacher, you better not go there.

Well I want to go there with someone.  The teacher of my student won't go there either.  She is relentless, and so too was the fourth grade teacher of my older son.  It's like discussing "homework" is not allowed; that if they mention the words "reducing homework" Zeus will strike down upon them with a bolt of lightning.

It's really not that big of a deal.  I just want to have a friendly discussion as to why I think fourth graders get so much homework.  I believe it's because NoChildLeftBehind Act requires a test in the fourth grade, and the results of that test determine the schools rating, and how much money they will get.  So, they punish fourth graders with too much homework.

Well, there really not just punishing the kids, but the parents too.  My kids are lucky they have a loving, caring and patient mother

Note: I do believe responsible parents will spend time helping their kids with homework, and that doing so when the child is younger will result in good study habits later in life.  However, how much homework is too much?  Thoughts?

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Grandpa's quote about smoking

She smokes.  She said, "You know, I know they want me to quit smoking, but I'm just not going to do it.  I have no interest in quiting.  I really enjoy it."

I said, "I understand what you're saying.  I tried to get my grandpa to quit smoking when I was a kid and he said, "I would rather do the things I enjoy and live a short and happy, as opposed to giving up what I enjoy and living an unhappy long life."

She said, "Can you please write that down for me, I want to script it and hang it on my wall for my kids to see."

I did. 

Our experience with Gift of Life

My wife and I had our own experience with gift of life recently. After her mother passed away unexpectedly from a brain aneurism, my wife and her three siblings decided her mother would want to do this.

They decided that even though her mother stated she would not want to donate her organs. She came to that conclusion because when she was a student she watched the gift of life take organs from a patient, and for some unknown reason the organs ended up being wasted. So that gave my wife's mother a sour taste about the idea of donating.

However, when the occasion came up, my wife said, "You know, an irony about this is that while this is our time of grieving, seven or eight people could be celebrating right now."

So the "reasonable" decision was made to trump their mother's decision. I remember watching over this discussion. Here four siblings in their 20s were standing around the lifeless body of their mother who was still on a ventilator making decisions people in their 20s normally don't have to make these days.

Back in the 18th century every family had death experiences. It was common for people in their 20s to have their parents die. It was common for infants to be born dead. In fact, at the time of Jesus 50% of children didn't make it to adulthood. Yet, thanks to modern wisdom and medicine, we just don't see death as often anymore.

So here my wife and her siblings were facing death for the first time. And a few days later the nurse came to my wife and said, "You know, I've seen many people die in the past year, and you are only one of four who decided to do the gift of life without consulting the gift of life first. I'm very impressed."

I recently talked to the gift of life representative here at Shoreline, and he said the law has it that a nurse or doctor is not allowed to approach a family about gift of life. However, if a person is close to dying, or even if the doctor thinks a person might die, the gift of life has to be called. Then it's up to the gift of life representative to approach the family. They are trained to do it.

Plus I imagine there might be a conflict of interest for the nurses and doctors trying to save a life to be coaching on Gift of Life.

So he said there are many people who decide to give to the gift of life, only a few do it without first being consulted. However, my wife is a nurse. She's also quite smart and reasonable.

My dad had a similar experience when his brother passed away after he hit his head as a result of a car accident. He was on his way to our house, and he lived only a mile away. All he had to do was cross the highway. He was teaching his 15 year old daughter to drive a stick shift. It was Memorial weekend. He was taking apples to our house to feed the deer.

The Jeep stalled at the intersection. Uncle Ted, who always wore a seatbelt, just unhooked the seatbelt because he was going to switch seats with his daughter. Yet just then the jeep was hit on the driver's side by an 88 year old driver.

The other driver wasn't going fast, and the hit wasn't hard, but just enough to knock uncle Ted out of the side of the Jeep where he hit his head on the curb. Dad was a member of the fire department, and ironically he was the first on the scene. He said Tad was talking to him, or screaming, "It hurts, Bob. Help me!"

This was back in 1989. This was back when the emergency helecopters were new. The Big Hospital up north just got one. My uncle was going to be the first passenger. He needed to have his head tapped to relieve pressure, but he had to be transported to the Big Hospital -- and fast.

Well, dad said the bed he was on didn't fit in the helecopter, so they had to wheel Ted back into the emergency room. It wasn't for another hour before they got him in the helecopter. By the time Ted arrived at the Big City Hospital it was too late to tap. Two days later he was pronounced brain dead.

Tad's wife asked dad what to do about organ donation. Dad said to her that Ted loved people and he would love to do this. Tae would be very happy with that decision. Yet his wife was scared and said, "But I can't do that."

So my uncle took his organs with him. That's fine. Yet back then the wisdom wasn't what it is today. Today we know that organ donation works. It saves lives. Grandkids and kids will be able to spend some more years with the 57 year old grandma who received the lungs of my mother in law (she was only 50).

Before this experience I personally was leary about donating my organs. However, when I was filling out the paperwork to get my new Michigan drivers license, and the lady asked me if I'd like to be a donor, I found myself saying, "yes!"

Now I know that little red "donor" next to a red heart over my picture (a much better picture than my last one I must add) has no legal significance, yet it might help someone make the decision later down the road. If something happens to me, I certainly don't want my organs to be buried with me. I won't need them in Heaven.

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You humble RT is officially "On the hill"

It was 15 years ago, when I was 25, my aunt Tossi turned 40. She and I went out to the bar to celebrate her birthday. One of her friends said to Tossi: "You are now on top of the hill!"

Tossi said, "I am not on top of the hill. I'm just getting started on the way up. When I turn 50, then I'll be on top of the hill. When I'm 60, then I'll be over the hill."

So now that I am the same age as Tossi was then, her wisdom is all the greater. Here your humble RT is just getting started up the hill. He is on the first step.

Chevy Chase Vacation Syndrome

So we're not really on vacation, yet days off work are almost like a vacation. And when a dad like me tries to do fun things with his kids, and his kids continue to think only about what they want -- and fight, this is what we call Chevy Chase Vacation Syndrome.

Santa brought the older kid a Wii, and the boy who received it wants to spend all his time in the basement playing alone. The dad, on the other hand, insists he bring it upstairs so the whole family can play. The boy is unhappy.

Meanwhile the girl wants to play too, and decided it's not fair that older brother is the one who got the Wii. She wants to play. So, finally dad gets his wish and the game is set up upstairs, and as the game ensues, the kids fight like cat and mice. The older brother is mean to the daughter because he hopes she will quit, and the younger is just being herself.

The dad, meanwhile, just shrugs off the little cat scratches hoping the kids will eventually just get along. The boy continues gloating he's so good, and when he starts going bad he fusses. Then the girl starts doing good and she gloats, and the boy gets mad at her for gloating. Then daughter playfully hits brother, and brother takes it personally and yells, "Stop it! Right now!"

So then the girls mocks brother, and dad has to intervene. Then girl throws fit, and dad has to drag her to her room where she can calm down. So now brother is playing game alone like he wanted all along, and girl is moved to another room where she can watch TV. So, so much for dad's fun evening with the kids. Now both kids are happy apart, and dad's sitting at the computer typing this blog post. He'd rather be playing a game with the kids, but what's a Chevy Chase dad to do?

We'll tackle this again tomorrow. This dad would like to go to bed now, but the 1-year-old is not ready. She is, in fact, standing with her juicy cup, chanting, "This... This...!" I suppose, for now, happiness is each of us doing our own things. Happiness is not always getting what we want, and sometimes happiness is compromise.

My daughter's revelation

I don’t know about you, my fellow asthmatics, but I bought my current home because I thought it would best help me on my quest to becoming a Gallant Asthmatic. I didn’t really have Santa Clause on my mind at the time.

Yet this morning my 6-year-old daughter had a revelation. She looked up at my wife with her cute little eyes and said, “So, mommy, how is Santa going to deliver my American Girl Doll if we don’t have a fireplace anyway?”

My wife humbly said, “He’ll use his magic to get into the front door.”

“Oh! Okay!” My daughter said, and then went about her business.

Trip to Florida with three kids

Well I just got back from my yearly vacation to Florida. I don't normally go this time of year, but last February I had a new baby at home and the wife and I decided it was better to postpone things. It was hard waiting so long to take a break, but in the end it was worth it. We had a great time.

My parents live in Florida not far from Orlando. They live on a gated community for folks 55-years-old or older. It's a rather new community, as all the homes are less than 10-years-old. What makes it stand out (and why my dad chose it) is that the homes are wrapped around an 18 hole golf course. The houses closest to the course have nets to stop the balls from hitting the houses. Although a few years ago when I went there the nets didn't stop my balls. I actually had to quit because I hit too many houses.

We don't normally go to Florida in October. In fact, it actually felt weird leaving Michigan when there was no snow on the ground. Usually we take this trip in February, although with a new baby at home back then traveling 22 hours in a minivan was the last thing we wanted to do. And it wasn't necessarily the baby that stopped us from going either, it was the 6-year-old-full-of-energy-and-hates-to-sit-for-long-periods-of-time girl. We figured as soon as the baby fell asleep the 6-year-old would have one of her fits. So we postponed.

The trip to Florida was uneventful until we got into Florida. By this time traffic was so slow it took us an extra two hours to get to my folks. We figured the delay was due to all the snowbirds going south for the winter. Other than that the ride was not too bad. We stopped every 2-3 hours to give the kids a break. Actually, we usually kept driving until my baby decided it was time to stop.

I have to tell you, though, that we're thinking of always going to Florida now in October. The weather was so much more tropical than in February. When we go during the winter we usually go swimming only once, and usually that's when the air and water are technically speaking too cool to be swimming. Yet, being from Michigan, we tough it out.

In October the weather was 85 degrees every day, and we went swimming in nice warm water every day. There was one day we went to Disney during the day and when we got back to the resort (we stayed at a Disney resort during this trip for three nights) I declared myself dad of the year and took my two older kids swimming at 11:00 at night. It was also raining that evening, but it was sooooo warm.

We stayed at my parents one night, and then we decided to get a Disney resort this year. My wife got some kind of deal. Normally it costs $500 a night, and we stayed for $500 for three nights. Still it was a lot, but it was worth it.

I'm more of a follower, but my wife is one of those Disney nerds. She knows every thing about Disney -- all the tricks. When we arrive there are long lines. She got a tip once that people in America tend to move to the right. So, if you go to the left the lines are shorter. We usually are through the ticket booths before most people even budge in their respective lines. It's kind of neat how that works.

Then we get into Disney and we get a fast pass to whatever the main ride is, and then we go to the other rides until it's time to use up our fast pass. Another tip is that wherever you like to be most, whatever section of Disney you like best, you should go there first, because it's not as busy early in the morning.

And, for lunch, we usually make a reservation at one of the restaurants that allow you to enjoy a buffet while your kids get to meet certain characters. Of course everything is expensive at Disney, and eating in these places is even more expensive. At Disney we take our kids to the Crystal Palace where they get to meat Winnie the Pooh and friends. If I remember right, lunch was $25 an adult plate (and my 11-year-old son was considered an adult). While the kids and my wife were concerned about meeting the characters and taking pictures of such, I was busy getting our money's worth of food. I'm telling you I never left one of these places without my stomach sticking three feet out and my belt loosened to make room for it. Yet I was a happy trooper upon exiting. Plus it was nice to sit for a while.

We ended up going to one of these places somewhere in Disney three times. We went to the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom and I can't remember the place in MGM Studios (I guess it's now called Hollywood Studios) and then again on my baby's first birthday at Micky's something at one of the more attractive Disney resorts. This is where the kids met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.

Another advantage to paying for these places is you get to go on rides instead of waiting forever in the parks to meet the characters.

Now, here's a tip I have for any one who is interested in going to Disney with kids. I highly recommend you skip all the parks except the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom has a bunch of rides the whole family can go on and there are a ton of them. You never have to just stand around. The other parks have fewer rides, they are far apart, and the rest of the stuff they have are shows that you have to attend at certain times. The shows are boring for adults (at least me), and the kids usually fight over where to go next. With my son being 11 and my daughter 6, you can see why there might be some anxiety. I felt bad for the boy because most of the places we went were for really little kids. Although he was a champ.

So, my tip is to skip all the other parks and just go to Magic Kingdom. The exception is if you go alone with our spouse or adult friend. If you want to go on a good date, or getaway at Disney, Epcot is the place to go. We didn't do this this year due to lack of time, but we did a few years ago and it was great.

Whatever Disney location we go, we usually try to go when there is a night parade. You have never seen a great parade until you see a parade at Disney at night. If nothing else it's an amazing light show. Of course to get a good spot you have to be in Main Street about an hour before the parade. You'll have to find a spot on a curb and sit there all that time. Not fun to do with kids. This year the boy and I saved the spot while the girls shopped. It's worth it though, in the end, to have a good spot on the curb -- trust me.

However, this year we were too late to get a spot on the curb and ended up sitting against one of the shops. The parade is up high, so this spot turned out to be just fine. However, with a spot way back here I had to hold my daughter so she could see. Thankfully an elderly man let my daughter stand on his scooter so I didn't have to hold her.

With temperatures at 85 degrees nearly every day this trip to Florida I will have to say was one of the best ever. It may have been the best since our honeymoon

A lesson for the boy

Like any child, mine dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. He says when he becomes a "Detroit Tiger" he will buy his parents a nice home.

"But," he said, "I would never want to be a famous actor singer like Michael Jackson because it seems all that fame does is bring misery."

I was impressed by my son's observation, but I had to add, "A baseball star is famous too, and most baseball players are away from home half the year, and are provided with the same temptations as any person with lots of money and time from home."

"Oh!" he said.

So, to make a lesson out of it, I said, "So, when you become famous, make sure you keep your priorities straight. Make sure you don't put material things before your wife, your kids and other people."

"That makes sense," he said. Too bad my RT bosses weren't as logical as my son.

Google leads to cool reunions with old pals

I remember the last time I saw my college buddy Frank we decided this would be the last time we ever saw each other. It turned out to be true. We also knew we would not be talking on the phone either, considering during summer breaks we never did that once. It's a guy thing.

Frank, Rich and I were about as close as you could get as friends. On the weekends we usually found a good party to go to, and we usually did this at the expense of studying. If there was no party to attend we would usually cut through a person's yard to bypass the fence at park where we wended through two-tracks to a place where there was an old train bridge over the river.

We carted with us a case of cheap Huber beer we purchased for $5 and drank and male bonded while our feet dangled over the edge.

We all had a teacher named Mr. Heck for science. We boarded a bus to Chicago to go on a field trip to the Museum of Natural History. We quickly did our assignment and called a taxi. In a sense, what happened next was Ferris Bueller-esque. We went to the Sear's Tower, to an old 54s, McDonalds, walked around the Hard Rock Cafe without purchasing anything but enjoying the melieu of the place, and spent time just walking around the city looking up at the cool, surreal buildings

It was memories like that that, in retrospect, make my time with Frank and Rich some of the greater memories in my life. Sure I didn't get the best grades, but sometimes the creation of great friendships are more important.

In 1993 was the last time I saw Rich. I imagine it was at a party at his Fraternity House. I wanted to join that Fraternity, but I wasn't as cool as Rich, nor did I have the funds to do so.

Fifteen years later we had the Internet. One night I was sitting around talking with my friends in the critical care about how it would be really hard to lose track of great friends this day and age with facebook and email. That was when it occured to me I should Google my old college buddies.

I knew Frank had a job as a journalist out of College, but I was surprised to see his picture over the word "lawyer." I emailed him: "Are you the same Rich who..." He was. I found Rich and emailed him too.

As I was waiting in Tiger Stadium to meat Rich, a million ideas of what he might look like today swept through my brain. Would he be 350 pounds? Woudl he still have that lock of red hair? Would he be unrecognizable? Would we have anything to talk about.

Yet many of my friends who actually had 20 year high school reunions say that people don't look much different 20 years later. Likewise, if you were good chums back then your conversations would take off as the last time you saw him. And that was the case with Rich and me.

The world will change immsely thanks to the Internet, and if keeping in touch with great friends is one of the advantages, then it will be for the better.

A surreal day: just the boy & me in Detroit

It was a father son vacation. Since the girls seem to get all the attention in this family, I thought it would be cool to have a father son outing. Jordan chose a Tiger's game.

I'm one of those rare people who love a nice ride with good music, daydreams, and discussions with the boy about the Tigers. He was pumped and eager to get autographs.

Coming from a small town where summer vacationers usually make a mere one or two stoplights a two minute longer wait, driving around the big city is a slight stressor. Jordan and I were going to meet up with a buddy of mine from college I hadn't seen in 20 years, but finding his place was turning into a major challenge -- like finding a needle in a haystack. And since I had lost my cell phone I couldn't call him.

Jordan was geared up with his Detroit Tiger shirt and hat on, and his Detroit Tiger backpack filled with his glove, baseball cards and a bat he wants to get signed.

He's eager and full of anticipation. "I'm going to get Verlander, Porcello and Jackson to sign my glove," he said. "So quit driving around and just park so we can get to the stadium before it's too late to get autographs."

I drove around the streets Rich directed me to and still I couldn't find his building. So, finally, Jordan said, "Dad, just pull into that parking lot right there. It's only $10. Forget about your friend."

I parked. We walked the five minute journey to the park. It was surreal walk for country folks as we walked below the towering historical buildings not knowing which one was which, only knowing Comerica Park was "that way." And as we walk up to the park you can actually see right in. It's a cool sight. Two hours before the game some folks were already sitting atop buildings outside the stadium, yet inside most seats were empty.

One guy with missing teeth walked up to us and asked if we needed tickets. I asked if he knew where there might be a pay phone, and he said, "That's funny you ask, because I don't think there are any payphones at all in downtown Detroit. You'd think there would be, hey?"

Inside the park Jordan insisted I find my pay phone on my own, because he was going to find the Tiger dugout and get some autographs. "Dad, I'll just meet you in our seats when the game starts. I can't waste time. I have to get my autographs."

I walked him to the Tiger dugout.

At the customer service desk the good folks there let me make a call to Rich for free. That impressed me. It doesn't take much to impress me. I met Rich at the gate and slid him his ticket through the a barred gate (which was unlocked by the way).

As I waited for him, I wondered if I would be able to pick him out of a crowd. Then I saw this guy walking around confused and figured that must be him. I waved.

While we were catching up behind Jordan as he was itching to get Nate Robertson's autograph, beads of sweat were dripping down my forehead as the sun was beating down on us. I had decided if this heat persisted, I was not going to make it through a three hour long game.

It was worth standing in the scorching heat, though, as Jordan eventually powered himself to the fence and hefted his glove and Sharpie for Nate Robertson to sign. Once he had it we were ordered to go to our seats.

When I ordered the tickets I had no idea our tickets were at the very top of the upper deck over third base, last row, under the awning, where there was a cool breeze as though a fan were blowing on us. We decided these Bob Euchre seats were the best seats in the entire stadium.

And when the rain started to fall in the 8th inning, every body in the stadium got wet but us. All we got was a nice cool breeze. It was great. And the game was great.

The boy was bound and determined the Tigers were going to win, and this determination reminded the dad of when he was a boy and big time Tiger fan. When I was 12 I remember willing the Tigers to many victories.

It's almost as though you JUST KNOW they are going to win. I had that feeling that my boy was going to WILL the Tigers to a victory on this night. So when the Tigers were down by three after a Cub three run homer in inning one, the dad did not fret.

Almost as though it were expected, Fernando Rodney struck out the batter and the runner was stranded on second -- the Tigers won. Jordan and I led Rich to our car, and, ironically, it turned out to be parked right across the street from Rich's pad. Was this another one of the boy's miracles. Do boys have that kind of power?

Rich walked Jordan and I around Detroit. A few beggars approached us, and one probably tried to pick my pocket as he patted me on the back saying, "That's okay, I understand." Unfortunately for him I keep my wallet in my front pocket when I'm in Detroit.

Just walking around Detroit itself is surreal. It almost seems like there is nothing in Detroit but old buildings, but Rich took us into one plain set of doors, and inside was this magnanimous and capacious indoor room with a large towering water fountain. It was the main floor of a towering office building, and, best of all, it was air conditioned.

Also inside the building was Hard Rock Cafe. It was too expensive for us to eat there, but we entered anyway just to be cool. Then we ate at a coney place I can't remember the name of. Rich said it was one of the most famous coney places in the world.

Back at Rich's we boarded an elevator that was hot, stuffy, claustrophobic and run by a hand crank. I had never seen such an ancient elevator. On the way up I vowed I would not take it on the way down. Yet Rich's loft was really cool, and even Jordan was impressed. It was a spacious pad with open windows (no screens) and a warm breeze blowing through. He had an awesome view of the city.

"As I listen to Tiger games there is a five second delay," Rich said. "So I can actually hear the cheer through the windows before I hear the announcers describing what happened on the radio. I actually can tell what each cheer is for. If someone hits a home run, I usually know it before the announcers tell us. It's really neat."

Facing one of the windows were two antique blue seats that Rich said were from the old Tiger Stadium. Jordan and I sat in them just to be cool, and checked out the view.

On the way to my brother's Jordan said, "Dad, your friend Rich turned out to be a really cool guy. We should meet him again next year."

I'll take it from that Jordan had a great time in Detroit. As soon as we were at my brothers he borrowed a Blackberry and called his mother. It was a great feeling listening to him gloat to her about all the cool things he did that day. I think it's safe to say: mission accomplished. Thanks Rich.

RT Wit & Wisdom

Okay, so it's Sunday. My wife is working and my five year old daughter is working (riding horses with grandma), so that leaves me all alone with my 5 month old. Well, you know what that means, daddy actually has to work today.

She was fine yesterday, but today she's made it quite aware that she's tired of the bottle and wants something I can't offer. She's a happy baby for the most part, has discovered her hands and her voice -- which means she can entertain herself to an extent.

Yet she seems to have learned from her older sister that daddy can be a pushover if you flash your eyes and beg -- or cry. Yep, she's bright that way. She decided today she wants daddy to hold her until "what she wants" gets home -- which isn't for another seven hours.

Right now she's giggling as she plays in her new walker thingy. So, not knowing how long this "happiness" will last, or how long until she remembers she's not being held, I have to be quick here -- sententious so to speak.

Oap, she's crying. Gotta go.

I'm gonna start a new theme here: RT Whit. Oh, it's not whit as I just realized in my header. Whit is not wit, it's wit as in Ben Franklin's Wit and Wisdom. No one seemed to pick up on my error, but since the whole purpose of this blog is RT honesty, I'll confess my error (too bad I can't get the Rt bosses to be as honest like this).

So, today's wit is this:

"You can give the laziest person the hardest job and he will find the easiest solution: he will find someone else to do it."

Let's give an RT spin to this:

"You can give the melancholy, choleric and political orientated boss the simplest job and she will find a way to make it complicated."

Gotta go! She's no longer happy in her walker thingy.

A simple vacation

Sometimes it's nice just to get away from it all. Yet sometimes getting away from it all is not going anywhere at all.

The neonate wasn't keen on traveling, so anything involving the vehicle was out of the question.

It was sad to say, "Sorry kids, but we aren't going to travel 24 hours to get to your grandparents this year."

Yet, while the kids are away at school, the days we would normally have spent in the warm weather are just as relaxing here at home, so long as we can stay away from the normal routine.

It's hard, though, to not do the things you want to get away from when you are supposed to be on vacation. And Disney World is a heck of a lot more fun than blogging (oops, I'm not supposed to be doing this either. See what I mean, this is hard.)

But, when one has kids, sometimes these are the sacrifices one must make. If you have kids, I'm sure you know what I mean.

Happy Birthday to me

It turned out nice that I forgot to get the mail yesterday, because I walked out to the mailbox and got my only birthday card on my birthday. I never was a fan a sending cards, but sometimes all it takes is something little to make an "old man" happy on his birthday. Wow, who would have thought 39 years could creep up on a person so quickly.

You get to a point that one day you wake up and realize that things aren't the way they used to be, and they aren't the way you envisioned them. You have an epiphany of sorts, and reality sets in.
And you realize that old saying your mom always said might have some truth to it: "The older you get the faster time goes."

I remember when I was ten thinking that I didn't want to grow up. I'm sure most kids don't do this, but I literally stopped and smelled the roses. I remember savoring the moments.

Now, as an adult, the moments have gone by and in another lifetime, another 39 years, I will be 78. Wow. I take a deep breath and sigh. Better yet, I'm going to savor the day with my wife and kids.

Which brings me to another point. As a kid I loved to get materialistic birthday presents and mom insisted we kids didn't spend our money on anything for her birthday. That the best gift we could give is to simply be good.

Now, as an adult, I understand fully what mom meant. A wonderful day and a happy birthday to me was not the materialistic gift my wife and children didn't get me, but the smiles and hugs and "happy birthdays" they presented me with upon my awakening.

On a side note, I posted this picture because I am the baby.

My grandpa was 80 when he held me. Mom said, "We named him after you, dad. His name is Richard Stephen too." He smiled big and Auntie Virgie snapped this picture. Grandpa died three months later, living just long enough to hold me.

My grandma told me she was bringing this picture to me when I was 10, but she lost it. 28 years later my Auntie Virgie found it for me. It was a great birthday gift.

Happy birthday to me.

Quote of the day

How about a 5 YO daughter quote to end the New Year. This is not RT related, but my daughter is related to me.

My daughter was put in time out. She said, "I'm gonna just get up and walk to my room. You know I can do it because I have feet."

After my wife and I presented my daughter with some new house rules, she said to my wife: "And I have some new rules for you too, mom. No more taking the door knob off my door, and no more carrying me to time out."

Regarding the new rules, my 10 YO said to me: "And for you, there will be no more fighting with mom over stupid things. If you don't like the popsickles she buys you can just keep your mouth shut."

I took my lecture like a good dad.

Lots of snow to trudge through today

Six inches of snow yesterday, freezing rain last night, compounded with another ten inches of snow last night meant there was no school this morning. This turned out to be a great day to have off as the kids enjoyed playing out in the snow.

And your humble RT enjoyed getting his snowblower out and blowing snow. Of course before I cleared half the driveway the blower stopped blowing, and I was forced to shovel the rest. Ten minutes shoveling and I barely made a dent.

Still, it was such an arduous task I'm going to consider that my workout for the day.

It also makes me appreciate modern technology in all its glory, and appreciate all the hard work of our forefathers.

KIDS??? Then it's the non-smoking section

My wife and I took the family out to eat this past weekend. Well, considering she's pregnant we've been doing that quite a bit recently.

"Do you want smoking or nonsmoking?" the greeter said.

"Definitely not-smoking," my wife said.

"Oh, well, we don't have any available right now. It will be a five minute wait."

"No problem," I said, "We can wait."

Just then a person who looked to be of a higher authority, and of aparent choreric personality, walked over and stood by the greeter and said, "Ask them if they'd consider sitting in smoking."

My wife intervened, "Do you even need to ask that question when a person has kids. If a person has kids it's non-smoking."

That's all that needed to be said.

I'm getting a rock for Christmas

I'm not sure how this conversation came to be, but my 4 YO daughter told me that she wanted to get me a rock for Christmas.

"A rock oughta be interesting," I said, "I'm sure I can find many uses for a rock... Maybe I can use it at work to help me with my breathing treatments."

"Yeah, daddy," she said, "I know you can use it to bash your patients in the head and then you won't have to do breathing treatments on them. Then you can stay home and play games with me."

That's an interesting concept, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work the way she plans. When I relayed this story to my co-worker, she said, "Are you complaining about treatments at home again?"

Actually I don't. Um, really...

Snowmobiles make sledding twice as fun

When we were kids we had plenty of hills behind our house to go sledding on. There were small ones for when we were little, and then their were big and steep ones for when we were older.

We even had one hill with a great big jump on it if you were brave enough to try it, because right after you landed you had to quickly jump off your sled or run into a big pine tree.

Whichever hill we used, we always had to trudge back up. This was probably one of the best ways we stayed fit and trim during the long winter months.

When my son was four I remember taking him sliding at my parents home on the same hills I used to slide on when I was that age, and I had to carry him up the hill. This was a blast for my son, and it was great seeing him so happy. However, after doing this four or five times I was exhausted.

Those days are gone. Yesterday I took my 4 YO daughter to one of my nursing freind's homes to go sliding (the son was at school), and instead of hauling our kids back up the hill we tied the sled to the back of a snowmobile. Not only was this a blast for the kids, it was a blast for us adults too.

And when we were done sliding we took turns letting our kids drive the snowmobile. Of course we had to put our thumbs behind the gas to prevent the kids from going to fast, because they have a natural tendency to do just that. It was a blast.

We didn't get the work out we used to, and that coupled with the hot chocolate and brownies that were dished out afterwords might even cause us to add a few pounds instead of the opposite.

Nonetheless, this was a great way for the both of us to relax and forget about life for a while; to forget about how busy it was at work over the weekend; to forget that we have to go back to that place sought to forget the next night.

Webkins take over my Internet time

Santa Clause made a mistake this year, and gave both my kids Webkins. Now, in their spare time, they are constantly begging to get on the Internet.

Then again, kids have a lot of spare time, so there's a lot of begging going on here, especially by my 4 YO to go to Webkins.com.

My wife decided to be nice to her yesterday and let her play on the site, and then she told me she was leaving to go shopping. I figured while she was so entertained I'd just continue with my task of cleaning the basement.

"Dadda, I need your help," she shouted down the stairs. So much for getting this done.

"What now?" I said, feigning annoyance.

"I have something on the 'puter that I don't know what it is. I need your help."

It's hard for a dad to say no to a cute little girl, so I proceeded up the stairs. I stood behind her, leaned over to look at the screen. At first the screen appeared overwhelming, as there were about a hundred different things going on at once, but then I saw what her dilemma was.

"Um, if you want to buy stuff you need to have money."

"Money?"

"Yeah. Money." I knew a little bit about the website. That she had an online room that her pet lives in. And she has to buy various stuff for the room, such as furniture, windows, decorations, beds, toys to entertain the animal and even food. Oh, and the cat gets sick sometimes, so she had to take it to the Webkin's doctor.

Anyway, I guess it's a whole world there for that kitty. And, to make money, you have to play games. And, based on points made during the various games, you earn money.

"Do you want me to make some money for you?" I was in a good mood.

"Yeah."

So here I sat for the next half hour playing games. I got addicted to one game I thought was cool. In case you've ever been to the site it's called Cash Cow.

"Daddy, can I play now," she finally said.

"No! I'm busy."

"Please, daddy. I want to play."

"Oh, all right, as soon as this game is over." I plucked myself away from the game and let her play, and proceeded to my project in the basement.

Three minutes later: "Daddy, I'm ready to buy stuff now."

Oh, all right. "I'll be right up."

If you know four-year-olds, she wanted to buy everything in stock. Finally she settled on buying a window -- a window of all things.

"Are you sure that's what you want," I said, not wishing to sway her decision, even though I was thinking she should, perhaps, buy food to feed her pet.

"Definitely," she said, "That is absolutely, definitely what I want." She smiled.

I showed her where to click to finish the process, and then she urged me to win her some more money. I got addicted again.

Thanks Santa.

One more night to go...

I'm burned out today, as this is my 8th day in the past 12 that I've worked. I have to admit I haven't been necessarily busy, but nonetheless I feel the usual burn. Usually when I feel this way the powers that be find a way to keep me busy, and that seems to be the case so far tonight.

I have a lot that I want to write about, but the right words just don't seem to want to display themselves on this screen. And then when I do get into a groove ER pages me and I have to drop my train of thought and rush down there. I certainly don't want to make them wait because I'm blogging -- God forbid.

I'm sitting here writing about nothing and I still can't get words out. We here in the RT cave have a nice view of the parking lot, and I'm sitting here watching the snow pour down on my car. I'd say there's at least a six inch blanket of snow covering it now. In the morning I'm going to have to go out there and freeze.

However, I'd rather be out there and on my way home to snuggle under my warm blankets than in here right now. The clock seems to go slow when I'm burned out. I find that to be true no matter how busy I am.

Tomorrow, Friday, is my first day off of six in a row, and that's something to look forward to. Carrie has to work the next three days in OB, but that will give me quality time to spend with the kids. Rather, I'm going to play Zelda on my son's Nintendo DS, and the kids can entertain themselves.

I kind of lost interest in games the past 10 years or so. Rather, I suppose I grew up. But now that my son is old enough to be interested in the same games I used to like, I've found myself playing them on occasion again. I think JJ thinks it's cool. Of course, I am a cool dad. I hope he understands than when I ground him from his Nintendo DS so I can play it.

He's way ahead of me in the game, so that means I'll have to stay up all night tomorrow night until I catch up with him. If that's not enough, I'm going to have to make him read for two hours on Saturday, and when he's done with that he can clean his room. That will give me plenty of time to catch up, or maybe even get ahead of him.

My daughter? Well, she can watch movies all day. That's the best baby sitter I've ever known. I don't know how dad's got by without that baby sitter all these years. Then again, prior to me most dads probably didn't have jobs that allowed them to spend so much quality time with their kids.

Well, it's still snowing. And, by golly, ER hasn't called me in... 30 minutes now. Wow. I thought Dr. Krane would have called me for a fourth treatment on that man with a cold in room A. Oh well, if she calls me I'm going to smile while I'm giving it, because I know in seven hours I'm going to have a nice stretch off.

Have a good day (night).