Ok parents I have to ask this question, why does it seem like more and more parents are afraid to discipline there children? Has society really messed our heads up to the point that we let our kids get away with murder.. I mean really, It’s time that  we stop babying our kids. Ok, let me fill you guys in on to why I decided to write this post, this past weekend I decided to take my family to the Hale Koa, a resort located in Waikiki. During our stay there we decided to have breakfast at the Koko Cafe on the hotel grounds, there was a family that was sitting across from us and In this group there were 3 adults and 4 children, now tell me why the adults thought that it was ok for their kids to run all over the damn restaurant. Read Full Article..

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Hello all....

     My mind is all over the place right now. It is all over silly places mostly. So my blog will most likely reflect the same so.... welcome to my crazy head.      First thought... I am wondering if the fact that my kids are turning into serious Star Wars fanatics at the ages of 5 & 6 is good or bad. I can agrue both sides equally. As always, your thought would be most welcome and valuable.
     Next thought.... I started my home schooling music class with my boys today. I taught them basic concepts like volume, pitch, and instrument recognition. I made up my own musical instrument chart with what I believe are all the major categories and instruments. When I was done with the presentation on my laptop, I said," Is there anything else in music you would like to learn about, or hear?". My oldest said," I wanna hear some guitar...some real guitar...and see them play it." First thing that pops into my mind- Van Halen (Eddie)- "Eruption". I pull it up on You-Tube and play it. "Cool dadda!" came from their mouths. Nothing better than hearing that. Next, the youngest asked to see someone playing the flute. This didn't come to me right away, but I put "flute music" into the search, and it listed a flute solo done live by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Played it."Cool Dadda!" again! Then they asked for bass guitar. The old metal-head in me pulled up Cliff Burton of Metallica's infamous solo. " Uh, OK Dadda." I got.  Next I played them opera to show that a voice can be a musical instrument, and they actually liked it.
Can't win 'em all.....
DaddaBo

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Since I have returned home from Iraq, I have been asked this question from everyone that I have met outside of the military. “How do you handle being away from your family?” Mainly my kids, for some reason people seem to assume that the wife is usually  able to handle the separation.. not always and most definitely  not my wife; More on that subject in another post.

It’s hard enough having to leave your family behind when deployment time comes. The hardest thing for me is having to walk away from my kids especially when your 5 yr old is crying and asking mom why does daddy have to leave again. That kills me every time, what can you really say to a child that young to help him/her understand. I know I speak for every dad in the military when I say …That day is the hardest and most stressful day ever.

Fathering long distance really blows, trying to  discipline your kids over the phone really don’t work well. “You better listen to your mother or else I’m going to get you” …really; What kid is really going to take you seriously when they know that it will be at least another 3-6 months before you come home for R&R. Then there is the 11 yr old daughter who has discovered  boys and she wants them to notice her. At this point you are ready to pull your hair out, but in my case I’m bald so I can’t pull any hair.

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Hello again.

     I am not really sure what to write about today, so I am going to let YOU, the reader, write my blog for me. I am really doing this because I am interested in what eberyone else is feeling- so I can compare it to my own thoughts and feelings. I mknow, a little selfish- but play along....MAD LIBS STYLE!

1. When my kid talks back to me, I wanna take a _____ and ________ him/her.
2. My marriage takes _____ work because I am so _____ and he/ she is so _____.
3.  If I was given 24 hours off from my wife and kids, I would go ______________.
4. Teaching my kids to be _____ is hard because I am so _____.
5. If I could change one thing about my marriage it would be _____.
5a. If I could change one thing about my parenting it would be _______.

There you go. Have fun and answer any way you want. I will not be offended, call the authorities or make fun of you. I will post my answers if I get some responses shortly.

Faithfully,
DaddaBo

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It’s been about a month and a half since I returned home from Iraq, and here it is a Saturday Morning and I now have to face the infamous “Honey  do list”.

This is really a list compiled of all the things my wife didn’t want to do or as she puts it, the stuff she couldn’t do. Tell me… how hard is it to put Christmas decorations back in the box, then put it back in the garage storage area, or call the housing office to have maintenance come out to replace fluorescent light bulbs in the laundry room just to name a few.

I couldn’t believe the condition of my garage when I got back and to be honest I can see why the Christmas decorations didn’t make it back to where it belongs. I would include a picture but I’m to embarrassed , as a matter of fact I have been avoiding the garage since the discovery of the new war zone. So it’s now time to tackle the garage and other items on the list, so I can try relax and enjoy the rest of my vacation… Key word “Try”!!! The Army Dad.

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Hello again to my fan... OK, only 1 so far, but i'm just starting out.

     So my wife a nd I a few years ago decided to homeschool our kids. Some called us crazy. We lived in a town with a decent educational system. We still do. I just can't disagree with my wife's argument that 1 on 2 is better than any public, private, or military school could offer. Not only that, I actually trust my wife to educate my kids properly. Educate them not only on the facts, but the reality of the world. She is extemely smart. To me, there is no better teacher. I don't look down on parents that send there kids to school. To each his/ her own.
    So we HOME school, I work from a HOME office, and we are new to the area and haven't made many friends yet, so we've kind of become HOME bodies. We try and get out and experience our new surroundings, but it has to be with the kids. We left all of our close friends and family behind- SO NO BABYSITTER!
     It has been hard, and we feel it. I will never doubt that moving here was a good idea. The things we gave up by moving here, we'll adjust to. For right now though, it isn't easy. We always did enjoy the occasional night out. We do miss it. In the mean time, everyone out there in blog land- TALK TO ME, I'M BORED!

Where is Mary Poppins when you need her?
DaddaBo

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To read my blog visit http://bigdaddyben.blogspot.com/

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Nice to be back,

     Is it me, or is it weird that one of our boys has turned almost completely into my wife (personality-wise), and the other has turned into me? I mean, my oldest says something, and it sounds like it should have come right out of my wife's mouth (smart-ass!). I alwasys say it sounds like she programmed him. Does this happen in other families? I understand having more or less than two kids would throw off the math, but you know what I mean. And what the heck will happen if we have a third? It boggles the mind; or at least mine.      Your thoughts, advice, and deeper insight would be very welcome on this subject,
Swimming in an ocean of weird....
DaddaBo

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Here’s what actually happened.

She was trembling and a little flushed when she walked into the examining room to take my blood pressure and prep me for the doctor.    “I haven’t done this in a while,” she said, pumping up the blood pressure cuff, nervously eyeing a hypodermic needle on a stainless steel tray.  “Lately I’ve mostly been working in the back reviewing medical charts.”   I twitched a little, actually at a loss for words.   This was when I (rather unwisely) remembered how a good joke can sometimes put a person at ease.  “Don’t worry,” I said, smirking to force feed the humor.  “I’m a doctor.  I’ll tell you if you do it wrong.”    

The problem was that this turned out not to be so funny - mostly because she didn’t get the joke.   In fact she didn’t get it so much that when she let the air out of the blood pressure bag she whispered, “You have excellent blood pressure, doctor.”

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Whats up guys? We currently enrolled our son in a Montessori School Pre School program. I'm looking for anyone that has a story or special experience that they would like to share. Good or bad i want to honestly know what to expect.

Thanks for your time

MarkP

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