Out of My League

Why does it happen? You are sitting at a great place, enjoying a great meal, and always enjoying great company, and then it happens. One of your kids spills something.

If records are kept in the spill department, the raining world champion is my oldest son, Drew. Not once… not twice… but three times.

My oldest brother Gary and his “girlfriend” (I put that in quotations just in case Big Daddy is reading this… and believe me… that is a blog in itself) had gone to Colorado for vacation. The problem was his car became unusable during the trip. My Dad called me and asked if I would mind going to get him. I could take his conversion van and take the kids… and my wife… and his credit card.

Being the devoted son and brother that I am I said yes. Picked up the van (and the credit card) and headed northwest. It took us two days to get there… and what an adventure.

At our first stop, a pleasant restaurant in Wichita Falls, Drew ordered a soft drink and a hamburger. Within minutes of the meal being ordered and the drinks being served, it happened. Drew knocked over his drink.

The waitress was so happy to replace it. After being embarrassed at his clumsiness, he proceeded to take great care in nursing his drink… for about two minutes… then it happened again. Drew knocked this one over as well. The next drink came with a lid.

We traveled on, stopping in a town just inside the border of Colorado from New Mexico. It was late and we were all road weary… and hungry.

We checked into a motel and then tried out one of the local establishments. After placing our orders (Drew ordered a hamburger) and getting our drinks… it happened for the third time that day. Drew knocked over his drink. The next one… and all subsequent drinks on the trip had mandatory lids.

Fast forward about eight years. Last night we were eating dinner and my middle son, Tyler (12), knocked over his drink. We chuckled… because every time someone in our party knocks over a drink… we are reminded of the trifecta that Drew completed.

What made it so special last night was that the waiter cleaned up the mess… brought a replacement for Tyler… a regular sized glass… with a lid and a straw.

I know you had to be there… but it was funny… very funny… and the waiters tip was increased appropriately.

… let me give you about twenty thousand words…

I was at Disney World this week. I stood in line with my family for about an hour to see Fantasmic. It was an hour wait. It was hot. It was humid. A small intimate crowd joined us. If you can say that a crowd of about 8,000 is small and intimate. The show was great… but this is about something else.

On the way in we heard many languages. French, German, English, Portuguese, and Pig-Latin. (I said a few words of it so I could say that I heard it.) Many different people from many different places… but it all started with a small group of people on the left most edge of the crowd.

Several of the people in that area stood and raised their hands over their heads and made a cheering sound. It didn’t do much. They tried it again. A little better response. The third time… the third time was the charm. They started it again and the crowd caught on. A wave had been spawned.

It rolled across the crowd from one end to the other. It rolled over (through) large and small humans. It united a crowd from the four corners of the earth.

The wave carried on for several minutes before it became tiresome and started to fade. The intensity getting less at each passing. Then… something happened.

Several people in the far right corner of the crowd stood and cheered sending the wave back to it’s originators. This wave was bigger and stronger than the last several. This was new and exciting. The reverse wave.

The reverse wave didn’t have the stamina of the original direction. It only lasted about half the time. The newness gone.

Do we all speak different languages? Yes! Do we have common things that tie us together? Yes! You can say several things separate us from other animals. Several things put us higher on the food chain (pecking order). Is the wave one of them?

I think God smiles when he looks down at us and sees us doing the wave.

The Wave

I have the best job in the world. I get to see the world through the eyes of kids. I am amazed at the wonder they see. I am amazed at the hope and passion they possess. I am truly amazed at how pure things really are for them.

We are leaving on Monday morning, at 6AM I might add, for a trip to Disney World. I (43) have been once and loved it. I went to Disney Land once but that doesn’t count. My beautiful bride (37) has been three times. Our eldest (13) has been twice. Our middle child (12) has been once. And, our sweet precious baby love child (5) has never been. He is so cited [sic].

Let me tell you why…

rj-and-disney 

(click above to see video)

I was an Indian. Not like my Grandfather (yet I am an Indian like him) more like Mike Hargrove or Jim Thome. Okay, I started my baseball career wearing a uniform for the Pioneer Youth Association team called the Indians. The caps and stirrups were purple. I don’t know why. I was a first baseman like Hargrove and Thome. A big difference, other than they played in the big leagues, is I was (am) afraid of the baseball. I hear you laughing… not nice.

From second grade through graduating from high school I was a first baseman. Believe it or not I made the All District team in high school. Still, I was afraid of the ball. I’m not sure if my coaches knew it (how could they not)?

I have three kids. Three boys. The oldest boys, Drew and Tyler, are baseball players. I want my kids to be happy. I want them to be good. I want them to enjoy the sport because it’s fun. My fear has been my phobia of the ball flying at me, at my face, would be inherited by my kids.

I was watching Drew’s, my eldest’s, first game the other day and I was amazed at the way he approaches the ball. I would have turned my head to the side and moved so the ball would come next to me not at me. Drew is like a vacuum cleaner going directly at the ball. Seating it securely in his glove before popping it out and firing it over to first base. He has no fear of losing teeth… or an eye… or breaking his nose… I don’t get it yet I do… I had an epiphany.

I am putting my fears and failures on my kid. Not a great idea. It hit my that he doesn’t necessarily have the same fears that I had at his age. He’s not afraid of the ball. Good! He’s not afraid of contact. Good! He’s not afraid of girls. Not so good!

Bottom line… don’t put your fears on your kids. Let them experience life. Let them get some bumps and bruises along they way. Let them get their heart broken once or twice… it will mend healthier and heartier. Let them be kids. Let them enjoy what being a kid means. Don’t shield them from the wonder of growing and learning.

I’m still afraid of the ball… my boys aren’t… life is good!

Today, Ground Hogs Day, at the Bicknell house… was just another day… nothing special.

I am a fan of music. My father before me was a fan of music. He said their were two kinds… country… and… western. I like to think I’m a little more open than that. I played trombone in my middle school band. I don’t know many (if any) really good rock bands that have a trombone in them.

I like all kinds of music. My favorite genre would be music from the 80’s. We have a satellite dish and we get Sirius music stations. My wife and I love “The Big 80’s” station. It rocks. Our kids don’t like it so much… but they don’t have much taste when it comes to great/classic music. I like to say that I grew up in the 80’s. I went to high school in the 80’s. Music then was awesome. The Cars, Blondie, Hall & Oates, Duran Duran, Culture Club (yes… I like Culture Club), Billy Joel, Rick Springfield, Michael Jackson (when he looked like Michael Jackson), Van Halen, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Men At Work, AC/DC, The Outfield, and then, all of the Hair Bands of the late 80’s.

Who hasn’t stood at the side of the gym/cafe at a dance playing air guitar and looking for a girl to dance with? Okay… really just looking for a girl because we were all too scared to dance. Well, David Gibson wasn’t. There was the dream I had of dancing with Miriam Holmes… but I digress…. on to Guitar Hero.

I think that playing Guitar Hero is ruining future garage band lead guitarists. You get to listen to some great music. You get to play along on the guitar with some great artists. Yet, you really aren’t playing along. You are pushing five colored keys on the neck of the guitar and strumming a switch on the body. It’s really not like playing a guitar. It’s like playing a video game to some rocking music. My two pre-teens (11 & 12) are pretty good at the game. Oh, how I wish they had real guitars that they would spend the time with. Real guitars to make real music. Real guitars that they can use to entertain themselves and their friends. I’m not opposed to the game… I’m just opposed to it taking away real opportunity to learn music and to play music.

I think the writers of the code for this game are pissed because they were the guys always standing on the side of the gym waiting to dance. Or wanting to dance. They never got to. They are getting even. They are getting even by ruining the future musical careers of guitarists.

Maybe I’m wrong… maybe I’m not… but I have to go… it’s my turn.

I’m not sure if I ever believed in Santa Claus.

I’m not sure if I have stopped believing in Santa Claus.

One of my administrative interns, who uses the term ‘crack smoker’ way too much, let a cat out of the bag the other day to her 6 year old. One of my kindergarten teachers has guest readers come every Friday. One Friday Zorro came in full regalia: mask ,boots, and sword. He read a great story. I have proof he was there… see my blog about Zorro. Zorro, much like Superman, can’t make a living out of fighting crime and can’t make a living out of reading stories to little kids. He has to moonlight, or in this case, daylight, as a high school assistant principal. You see, many of the same qualities that are required of a Zorro or a Superman are required of a high school assistant principal. My intern’s daughter just happens to be in that class.

I digress. My intern saw Zorro at a high school sporting event sans the Zorro attire. She tells her sweet little angelic daughter… “see that bald guy over there… that’s the Zorro that came and read to your class!” Which makes me wonder… has she already killed off the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa with her daughter?

I believe in Santa Claus. I believe in the goodness of what Santa stands for. (Truthfully, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny freak me out.) Should we encourage our children to believe in these things as well? I think we should. We should all have wonder and amazement somewhere in our lives. We should all have that secret belief that goodness exists. We should take whatever avenue is available to make the world a better place. If believing in Santa (and the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny) are the way to do that, then so be it.

Wonder and amazement are good. Two of the reasons to love elementary school.

Let those two titles soak in! (I’ll wait…)

It’s the thanksgiving season and I have a little bit of idle time.

I was counting my blessings today. The list is endless. Life is very good!

I went to see North Texas play Western Kentucky today. I only got to see half of the game because my two companions were ready to abandon ship during the first quarter. It was raining. They were cold. I made them hold out until halftime. They got colder… they couldn’t get wetter. We left. It hasn’t been a good season for my Alma Mater. While I was making dinner, a trip to sonic, I was listening to the post game show… North Texas 27… Western Kentucky 26.

I missed out on a great second half of football. I let me two companions know what they made me miss… they are twelve… they will forget about it… what? They already have. My Dad made me change the channel during the 1979 Cotton Bowl because the University of Houston was spanking one of my favorite teams, Notre Dame. Notre Dame won. Probably the greatest come back in Cotton Bowl history… I didn’t get to see it. I haven’t forgotten.

Today made me think about all the things I have been able to do in my life… and all the things I need/want to do in the time I have left.

In his book, Lou talks about his list of things he wanted to accomplish. He broke this list into five categories… including financial, professional, spiritual, husband/father, and excitement. Lou listed the following from his excitement category;

            Jump out of an airplane

            Land a jet fighter on an aircraft carrier

            Travel the ocean in a submarine

            Go white-water rafting on the Snake River at Hell’s Canyon

            Be on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

            Attend a White House dinner with the president

            Meet the pope

            Go on an African Safari

            Become a scratch golfer and play the Top 50 golf courses in the world

            Run with the bulls in Pamplona

In the five categories… Lou listed 107 goals… achieving 99 at the publishing of his book.

So… that’s what I’m going to do… start a list… of things to do and places to see… and see how many I can scratch off before I wear out my last pair of shoes… the list starts below. Feel free to leave a comment with suggestions… I might just add it to my list.

     Jump out of an airplane (yes… a perfectly good airplane)

     Bungee jump

     White water raft

     Throw out the first pitch at a major league baseball game (without the one hop)

     Play one on one with Mark Aguirre (my basketball hero)

     Earn a doctorate in education

     Finish my career as a high school principal

     Live in a foreign city for six months to a year.

     Spoil my grandchildren (this one can wait about 20 years)

Another family vacation in the Bicknell household is in the books. A week just flew by. We did many things in the great city of San Antonio, TX. We spent several parts of several days at Fiesta Texas. We went to the San Antonio Zoo. We visited the Witte Museum. We bowled… a favorite family activity… you never know who will win. Win!?! Did I say win? Competition is alive and well in our household. I think this is the first year that the two oldest boys didn’t try to kill each other. As Angie put it to me during the week… they have each found a common enemy, their four year old little brother. He makes them laugh and he makes them scream. I know that they love him, yet they truly have no use for him. He is a pest to them. He does frustrate us all from time to time, yet he can bring us all back to reality with his use of sarcasm. I know he doesn’t truly know what he is doing, yet he does it so well. Much like his mother. Enough about him. Back to the trip.

I think we got out of the trip what we intended. We spent time away from home with each other. We made memories that will last way beyond next week. Hopefully, the boys will talk about the trip for years to come.