Monday, June 26, 2006

Working as a family at WDW

Ever since I can remember, N has wanted to drive the train at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Z has wanted to drive the monorail. They are planning to move to Orlando after high school and do the Disney College program.

By the time Z is graduating high school, I'll have 4 years left until I could retire. GradeSchoolDad will have already retired. We were talking at dinner last night about how when the kids move out and I retire, perhaps we'll move with them to Orlando.

We could get seasonal jobs (meaning NOT during the hot season) at WDW and work with the kids!

So we got to talking about what job would be a good match for each of us. The kids decided that GradeSchoolDad would be perfect for a guide on the Jungle Cruise. He can tell scripted, corny jokes with the best of them, and he'd look pretty good in the costume!

For me, they rejected every idea I came up with (Snow White? nope, I'm too old. Running 'it's a small world?' - nope, they think I'd get crazy pushing the button and waving all day. Ursula is an animatronic and I don't have enough arms anyway.) But then it came to us -- I could be a tour guide!

You know what? I really like that idea! I think I'll put it on my list of things to think about for when I get closer to retirement.

And you know what else? I'm confident that both boys will have a chance to experience their dreams.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Double Digits

What a ride the last decade has been! I'm now the parent of a pre-teen; a double-digits boy; a 10 year old! Amazing!

When he turned one, we had a big blow-out of a party, not so much to celebrate his birthday, but to celebrate the fact that we survived our first year of parenting. Seems like we should be having a bash today to celebrate our first decade!

Instead, he's getting to pick out what he wants to do today. He wants lunch at the Mexican restaurant because we always eat Mexican on his birthday. He's a homemade-burrito boy - tortilla and refried beans with salsa, salt and a squirt of lemon juice. He has to make it himself at the table. We're still sad that Tia's closed.

His gifts include The Magic Kingdom Game, Clue, the New Super Mario Bros. game for Nintendo DS, and a pocket watch with a train from Disney.

Dinner tonight will be at the American Cafe, mostly because they have a fabulous Chocolate Chip Martini for dessert!



Ah - how great to be 10!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Scrabble

Want to know how well your kid is doing with spelling and have fun at the same time? Break out the Scrabble game and have a go at it.

You don't have to keep score (although come on - you know you're going to add up your own points in your head and hope you get the Triple Word Score - even if you're playing against your 3rd grader). Just start with learning how to use the board - the whole board! That's the challenging part for new Scrabble players ~ seeing how to not box the game into a corner.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

"Junior" Moments

Our just-finished-2nd-grader asked "What comes after J?" His now-in-5th-grade brother told him he should just sing his ABC's to figure it out.

A few weeks later, the same just-finished-2nd-grader wanted to know if it's been April yet this year? His brother sighed and suggested we send him back to kindergarten.

I shared these stories with a friend who said that perhaps he was having a "junior moment."