Teen Son Starts Legally Driving Today

Aside from driving down lone country roads and pulling in and out of the driveway, the teen son officially begins driving today.  He has his first behind-the-wheel lesson scheduled for after school.  Ruh roh.  They say getting a driver's license is the most significant event in a teen's life.  It was for me. 

Teen Rivalry

Me to Young Will:  "Well, does he know that you are going out with her?"
Young Will to Me:  "Yeah, Mom, he's not dead."

Formspring and A Prayer from the Living World

Doctor Zero at Hot Air blog wrote a passionate post in response to the news of Andrew Koenig's suicide.  After reading his beautiful piece last night, I immediately wanted to share it with the teen blogson, but the whole suicide topic stifled my enthusiasm.  Young Will enjoys a good, thought provoking article as much as I do, so I filed the post, entitled 'A prayer from the living world', for a future occasion.  Little did I know that the occasion would present itself today.  Will was telling me at dinner about a new application that's all the rage among his friends on facebook.  The program is called formspring.  It is easily accessible through a facebook account and allows users to contact friends anonymously and ask them random questions.  The questions and answers are posted for all to see.  The teen blogson was giving me some examples of how people become so bold when they are anonymous.  He seemed concerned, and compelled to share some of the mean comments that had been written on the formspring page of one of his friends.  The conversation naturally evolved into how hurtful teens can be to each other.  Add the element of anonymity into the mix, and there can be real trouble and serious pain.  We talked about coping mechanisms.  I read Doctor Zero's beautiful piece to Will, and in usual form, I couldn't get through it without crying, which always adds an element of comic relief to our togetherness.  The moral of the story:  formspring offers a potentially fun, but dangerous social forum, which will challenge kids' ability to decipher reality.  There is just so much out there to challenge kids' confidence, that communication is critical; even the God-awful discussion of suicide.  Thanks Doctor Zero for the thoughtful assist.        

Running West Chop

What's better than a four mile run, on a gorgeous, sunny, February day around West Chop?  A few mile run on a gorgeous, sunny, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October or November day around West Chop.  All kidding aside, today was one of my favorite runs of the year.  Deep blue sky and water, no wind and in the low-to-mid forties.  Now that I'm increasing my weekly mileage for Shamrock Shuffle training, the treadmill just gets too boring.  Wild Willy ran four miles through the forest earlier in the day, and was just as pleased with the conditions.  We had to take turns exercising today, as we were expecting an important call from Dr. Bob.  The teen blogson has been so sick this entire winter break.  We took him to the doctor today for a throat culture and blood work.  It looks as if he has some sort of viral infection, perhaps the start of mono.  He's had a lazy week, and good excuse to do nothing but be babied.  I can't remember the last time he had a fever.  

Zebra Mentality

The blogson was telling us about an assembly at the high school yesterday. A fellow by the name of Michael Fowlin gave a powerful presentation about discrimination, and not just racial discrimination. He spoke of all types of discrimination, such as that among cliques at school, left-handed kids, family members, and even friends. The presentation was about how people, in this case, mostly teens, ostracize, alienate, and double-cross each other in order to be accepted. The pain of the injustice is sometimes just too much for people to take, and teens particularly, have difficulty managing these emotions. The speaker went on to graphically illustrate the grave and sad consequences for some people who carry the burdens of discrimination. Mr. Fowlin spoke about the sorry-ass people who just stand-by and watch bad behaviors and alienation in action. He called this the zebra mentality. “Bullies are not the problem,” he says, “Zebras are the problem. They’re beautiful creatures, but when one zebra is attacked by a lion, the others watch. They see these things happening and might feel bad about it, but they don’t do anything." The blogson enjoyed the hour presentation, but casually summed it up in one sentence, "People just need to do the right thing."

Keep 'Em Busy, Keep 'Em Broke

Good mantra for any parent of teens.

Camp Kieve

Photo Credit

While I miss the blogson dearly for three and a half weeks a year, I never worry about him when he's away at camp. It is a wonderful and meaningful passage to manhood for these teens. Each year, the wilderness journey get increasingly more challenging. This year, the blogson spent thirteen days on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine. He returned to his cabin this weekend. Although, I have only received four sentences on a postcard from my camper, Kieve provides information and photos to the parents almost daily. Yesterday's news from Camp Kieve illustrates the fun they have when back from a grueling wilderness adventure:

Today was Sunday and as Geoff raised the flag after a half-hour sleep-in, he announced that the theme of the day was Super bowl Sunday. After a breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit, everyone hurried back to their cabins to clean for a little while before choir practice. At chapel, Kieve Alum Chris spoke and we all sang the kieve hymn together. Afterwards, campers scurried back to their cabins to organize their things and make their beds in order to pass for inspection. Directors Tommy and Henry came around checking peoples cabins off and then camp settled down at Pasquaney to enjoy corn and barbequed chicken. In the afternoon, Pirates and Mystery Bus were the two most popular activities and despite rumors of rain the skies stayed clear. The counselors worked together to make a delicious dinner of wings, mozzarella sticks, burgers and dogs and then Geoff announced the evening activity: the Super bowl. Camp rejoined down at Harriet House field, which had been turned into a football stadium, complete with Goal Posts, loud speakers and delicious snacks such as popcorn and soda. Campers ate their fill while they cheered their counselors on. After the game we returned to the top of the hill to lower the flag while Geoff spoke of how much Kieve meant to him. Overall, it was another wonderful day at camp.

The Shenandoah

We were blessed with our third boating day of the season yesterday. Aside from the blogson, Will aka Billy, who tipped the dingy and fell into the cold harbor waters, we all had a fabulous afternoon soaking up the sun on Osprey. It wouldn't be the perfect day out to sea without sighting the Shenandoah in full sail. From Coastwise Packet, The Shenandoah is a 108' square topsail schooner with no auxiliary power, thereby making her unique in the American schooner fleet. She is the only vessel of her size and rig operating under the American flag. The Shenandoah is a legend in New England waters, and majestic to behold at full sail.

SHOCK: Teens Take the Vineyard Bus

The 15 year-old blogson and his friend actually took public transportation home last night at 11:00 p.m. At least that's what they told me. Perhaps they engaged in their first episode of hitchhiking, which would be OK too, but only on Martha's Vineyard. I find this to be blogworthy for several reasons: 1. It's a rite of passage, independent and out late at night and on public transportation. 2. We have never been on a vineyard bus. 3. An article entitled reducing how much we drive--child miles traveled? caught my eye this morning.

Sanibel Bean

Bill and I had a lovely breakfast at the Lighthouse Café before rousing the sleepy heads. The eggs Benedict had a hint of Key Lime in the Hollandaise sauce. Yum! The boys returned their rental bikes in town and we ran a couple of errands. We all met up at the Bean for drinks before heading over to Ding Darling Nature Refuge. It was a peaceful place to commune with nature on Easter and snap some pictures of wildlife (outside of the hot tub, as Bill said). We did go to the Bubble Room for a late lunch, but no one was really in the mood, nor even hungry. Ft. Myers airport hotel was our last stop for the day. A dip in the pool, a quick dinner and back to organize our bags and catch some zzzzz's. A restful week.

Hardcore Teen Behavior

A women in the TSA security line, behind the boys, was astonished to see Billy and Jack traveling with the XBOX. She simply said, "Now that's hardcore!"

Soon to be a Classic

From InstaPundit

A Word To Parents

Children learn from their own mistakes, not yours.

Digital Stalking: A Big Issue for Teens

Electronic bullying, harassment and stalking is becoming a real problem for teens. There is no protocol established for teens to deal with some of this digital violence, which can include the transmittal of nonstop text messages, cruel comments on Facebook and MySpace, and inappropriate photos via cell phones and email. An ad campaign has been established to encourage teens to set boundaries. ThatsNotCool.com is intended to appeal to all teenagers and offers an area where kids can seek advice on drawing their digital line.
Hat tip to Wild Willy

A Sword and Some Pineapple

You're the cool kid at school.

Off Island Adventure

The teen blogson is having his first adventure as an unaccompanied minor. We put him on the ferry boat early this morning and he'll catch the bus to Boston to meet up with a friend from Kieve camp for boys. Hopefully, all his connections go well.

XBOX Sweet XBOX

The Blogson couldn't agree more.
Picture credit

Ya Gotta Love Gizmodo

With the Blogson quickly approaching driving age, here's a certain remedy for one less worry found on the Gizmodo site:

"As we all know, driving while using a cellphone makes for some dangerous driving. Now, a new key fob will allow parents to jam their kids' cellphone while they're behind the wheel.

The idea is that teenagers are both bad drivers and stupid, so they are the most likely group to text while driving over the speed limit. This may be true! But is this the best solution? I mean, aren't there times where you'd want your kid to have access to their phone in the car? Like if they get into an accident? Or get kidnapped? Or need directions? Or any number of other situations? This system gives the kids access to 911 and a preset number, like the parents' phone number, but still."

Teens Singing

The Blogson did a fine job in the holiday concert tonight. All these kids are really good! This should get you in the Christmas spirit.




Homecoming Dance