What does that mean? You drive the content for Thursday, May 1. You can write the blog, have me write the blog about the topic of your choice; suggest a featured guest; promote a cause or product you love; post a challenge; .... YOU NAME IT! All you have to do is get at least one man to post his ideal Father's Day gift. Easy peasie.
But first we have announcements to make and women to honor....
- Remember, Saturday will be Whacky Wednesday, so tune in.
- For one day only, this Sunday (again, adding a seventh day to ASSURE we hit 5,000), I will re-extend my offer to post a Colorstrology Profile of your choice. So if you're new to the site, check out April 4 ("U" Are Unique) . It will explain further.
- Helena, if writing a paragraph telling of Flat Stanley's adventure is more work than you have time for, just post a short note in the announcements. Once you post, I will solicit a host for Stanley's next stop.
Now onto... Operation Mother's Day: Crazy Eight!
Back to Children's Courtyard for another deserving mother to be honored. Jennifer is the mother of soon-to-be SIX kids!!!!! I don't know about you, but from where I sit, I should be able to stop right here and it should be obvious why I selected her. Six kids!!! But there is more. I first met Jennifer when my sister in law and I, on a whim, stopped in the preschool to see what it was like. Jennifer made the time to talk to us and to give us a quick tour of the facility. More than a month later - with no follow-up on my part - I returned to the preschool. Jennifer remembered exactly who I was and what the boy's names were. I was impressed!
I remember seeing Jennifer walk through the hallways of the school with two of her daughters, so you can imagine how surprised I was to learn that she was not just the mother of two, but FIVE kids AND with another on the way! Jennifer is like a duck. She might be paddling furiously below water, but on the service she looks cool, calm, and collected. Nothing appears to rattle her. One might argue... Jennifer is my exact opposite.
I could spend hours talking to Jennifer about meal times in her house, laundry (and I think I've got problems!), transporting kids from one place to another, managing schedules, squeezing in time for herself... the whole gammit. It's obvious from the sparkle in her eye and the smile on her face that surrounding herself with kids (her own and ours) is her "blue flame." We'll talk more about "blue flame" in the future, but for now suffice it to say... blue flame is what ignites when passion and ability come together.
Jennifer - the selfless woman that she is - immediately recalled a gift that she presented to her mother years and years ago. It was a plate she made when she thinks she was eight years old. Featured on the plate was her family... she; her father; her brother; and then centered right smack in the middle of the plate, wearing a BRIGHT red dress and drawn twice as big as any other family member was her mother.
Jennifer's mother has since passed away, but not before she and her mom got a good laugh about the plate. Her mother, who had a very slight build, shared that she never fully knew why she was featured as being so much bigger and heavier than everyone else in the family. I'm no psychologist... but the little bit I've learned (second hand) would suggest that the size and scale of her mother was more a representation of the importance Jennifer placed on her mother than it was Jennifer's "image' of her mother's figure. Today the plate sits in a curio cabinet at Jennifer's house... high on a shelf and well out of reach of her six kids.
Finally... Free For All Friday...
It is now time for all men to come forward and tell us what they really think (not about the blog - unless it's nice), but about what makes for the IDEAL Father's Day gift. To get us started, I'll turn it over to Richard... my husband, who once again is wondering how the heck he got involved in one of my projects...
"I've been counseled to be 'reasonable.' This, for those who don't know me, will be a challenge. I'm first going to assume that the women on this blog already know what most men really want at this or any other holiday......otherwise there wouldn't be a Father's Day. First I should say, that I don't need ties or bad golf balls and gadgets for the grill that require batteries. I don't need complicated family outings with three kids in tow or a bunch of Hoopla. For me, Father's Day should be a day of rest. A day when I wake up to a breakfast that someone has made for me, a day without chores, a day of golf and grilling and beer. A day when I tell my father that I appreciate him and have my sons tell me the same. A day that ends with a back-rub and ..... this, I believe, is reasonable."
Who's next?
As for me... signing off until tomorrow and with 396 still to go...
Posts
25 comments:
Claudia, my husband Chris will be posting as soon as he returns home. I must let you know he has NEVER in his life ever touched a computer let alone post a blog. I told him he had to and that I will chalk it off to ONE of my Mother's Day gifts. My husband works 6 days a week (being a business owner its more like 7). He works 14 hour days and if anyone knows what he wants for Fathers Day its him. His idea of Father's Day won't be too far from Richard's idea.
OK Claudia, this one is for you.
My idea of a great Father's Day is one without cell phones, complaining kids, clocks, and chores. I would love to go on my boat with my son and fish all day! I don't want anything expected of me. Maureen says that this is what my Sundays are like. My son Michael and I are best friends and spend most of our time together. We both share a passion for fishing and the ocean. The ultimate fishing day would be one that never ends...... and of course one in which I catch a bigger fish than my son.... I know I have 2 daughters and they love fishing but they get bored too quickly... I hope you are happy I am now signed on with my own name... Thanks to Maureen! I have no patience to sit on a computer and fight with it all day... I'd rather be working!!!!
Say hi to Richard and I hope to see you all soon.
So this idea doesn't really fit in with today's theme (nor any of the other themes of this week), but I thought it was worthy of sharing.
A former co-worker of mine once told me about this idea: Each year, on her own birhday, she would sent flowers to her mother. It was a small way of saying thank you to her mother for giving birth to her, and caring for her.
I'm sure this could work for fathers as well as mothers. I would think any parent would be pleasantly surprised if they received a gift from their child on their child's birthday.
I have asked Julie to post here despite the fact there may be another one out there we are looking for.
Hopefully she comes by again and says hello.
When I was a kid, I was always confused that Fathers day was always represented by ties. We decorated cakes at the local grocer for him--they were tie shaped, often father’s day cards depicted ties, or print ads featured them as well. I remember being very confused since my father didn’t wear one. When I got a bit older, and realized that my dad was not represented by a tie because of what he did, I felt embarrassed about it. Not really embarrassed about my dads profession, but embarrassed that he might feel left out with all those ties out there, taunting him and relating good fatherhood to neckties.
My dad wore a tie to his mother’s funeral a few years ago and I nearly fainted with disbelief.
I just thought I would share because today’s posts reminded me of that!
C’mon Julie!
-Anon
Father's Day is important. I have to agree with everything Richard said specifically grilling (mmmm meat and beer), but also knowing I receive the NFL package for Direct TV for fathers day every year is awesome. I think one of the biggest gift to be received this year would be that Richard Beeny doesn't have to do another blog entry about fathers's day (that is a joke for those who don't know me). Lastly, I would like to mention the NFL draft is this weekend....GO PACKERS.
Long-time reader & first-time poster here! Since we're on the topic of Fatherhood, I'd like to propose next week's free for all Friday topic: After many years, my husband and I have decided to start a family of our own. While this process may take some time, I'd like to have a creative idea (or two or three) in my pocket of how to tell him that he will be joining the "daddy club". Fun ways to tell the rest of our family would be great to have too...
anonymous reader...I can't wait till Friday. Babies are my favorite topic!
I have some great ideas to share.
So far, it sounds to me that dad's want the same things as moms... a day without chores, without complaining and just to relax and enjoy our lives. I mean, really, all the other stuff is just that... stuff. But here's a delimma to throw in the mix... what if you don't live near your mom or dad? If you can't be there then what do you do? You send the stuff including the bad golf balls and the grilling trinkets. ;) And believe me, I know my mom and dad don't need or want for anything, so it's hard! I'm still shopping. (And for what's it worth, I know I don't need or want for anything which is why the time is most precious.)
Okay, I'm rambling.
I have been waiting for Free For All Friday all week! I have a design delima. Many years ago I purchased a mirror. The frame is a salvage window from some Fort near Austin. The top of the window has a bunch of flowery stuff with a rafia bow. I want to take all that stuff off due to it being old, squashed and dated. My question is what else can I decorate the top of the mirror with? My house doesn't really have a theme. I don't decorate with roosters or fruit. I like art. Maybe a bunch of paint brushes as an example but I'm not limited to that. I guess I could super glue more flowery stuff up there or just leave it empty if everything pulls off okay but if it were in your house what would you put on it?
Happy Friday!
Okay I'm responding to both FFAF posts (Free for all friday)...here goes
Anonymous: Here are my ideas of ways to tell your husband:
-Get a onesie in his favorite team
-Make a meal of all "baby foods" baby back ribs, baby carrots, etc...
-Stick a pacifier in with his lunch
-Leave your prenatal vitamins on the counter for him to see (joking!)
For family:
-My Mom was moving into a new house so I told her I got her some things she'd need at the new place and handed her a bag filled with baby socks, pacifiers, etc...
-We told my husband's parents by giving his Dad a Happy Birthday Grandpa card
-Bibs that say I love...grandma, grandpa, aunt, work well too.
For Cheryl...
In my house we like clean lines so I'd sand it down, restain and hang.
MY PARENTS HAVE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! Now I buy them tickets to a Broadway show and my brothers chip in to send them to a really nice restaurant in the city. They love it and its something they wont do for themselves. Tickets to a show and dinner is something that you can buy and send anywhere.
Claudia, as for the plate with the mom larger than life... It is true that if you want to kmow how your child perceives his or her family just tell them to draw a picture of all of you. Its pretty cool because they dont know it is something that child psychologists have used in the past.
Of course, by the time I tried this with Melissa, Michael and Krysten coached her !!! They figured they would spare her the anguish of being mentally probed by me and Chis for weeks to come.....
Hey Been-ster...
I just wanted to let you know that my best friend, Julie, is working very hard to get you a lot of readers! She has your link posted in her away message of her IM (which is up all day because she works).
You're oh-so-close to 5000!
Maureen and Cristine... put on your thinking caps. Right now you are the only two in the running to be Blog Master for a Day. Again, this means YOU get to take my blog hostage for a day (Thursday, May 1). You can either provide me with an idea for the content... or you can write the blog and I will post for you. Either way... you are in charge. Promote a cause... or yourself. Feature a friend, a relative, or someone else about whom you think our highlowaha readers should know. Pose a dilemma. Ask for a repeat performance of something we've already covered. You name it!
The rest of you readers... it's not too late. Dial up your dads, brothers, uncles, cousins, and husbands. Have them post before day's end and you too will be in the running. THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW MORNING.
Anonymous... THANK YOU for deciding to post today... AND around such a fun topic. I will certainly be milling this over in my head all week. Of course, Heather is our resident baby expert, so many of the most fun ideas have been shared. Can we make a little agreement that you will come up with a fun way to tell us - your electronic friends - when you have some exciting news to share?
Finally, Cheryl... I am so visual. Can I come by this weekend and take a picture of the mirror about which you are speaking? I'll post it on Monday, so all the readers can picture it too.
Tera... This is above and beyond Melissa... another friend of your friend Shari. You are proving to be quite the connector!!!!
Claudia,
Of course you can. We have one thing planned on Saturday from 1-3ish but other than that let me know when and we'll be there for a photo op.
I am still working on the challenge. In addition to sending out some personal messages to a bunch of people who I think could become regular readers, I posted a myspace bulletin inviting all the people I know to come check out the blog.
Update - I have caught up on all the past blogs (although perhaps I should have spent more work time actually working for the last two days...).
I promise to become more of a creative idea contributer after next week. There is a lot going on as my campus is working on closing (as I believe many of you would understand, since there seems to be a high number of student affairs professionals around here) and the creativity section of my brain is ultra focused on helping my staff and my students get out of here with as little "pain" as possible. After they leave (and I catch my breath) I will totally join in the brainstorming.
By the way...some of the earlier blogs and comments inspired me to go through my closet yesterday and get rid of things I should have gotten rid of ages ago. I got to thinking about the space issue I was having and how much I dislike clutter after reading some of the organization ideas and I got cracking. Thanks for the kick in the pants!!
Claudia,
I told Matt that he could have my blog master duties if he wrote you a note today. Who knows what would come out of his mind...
Cristine, You are correct. That could be... interesting and certainly lively. We'll see what fate brings.
Still seven and a half hours for someone else to get in the drawing!
Since last Father's Day, Lily was only 3 weeks old, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the day. However, this year with full fledged toddler on our hands I'm hoping for it to be a nice day so that I can spend it outside with my family.
I wouldn't mind an iPhone either.
Ahh...Bal, I have a hubby who would probably second you on the iPhone for Father's Day (Yes, our dogs DO get Mark a Father's day gift!).
From the sons of Cheryl...
JB, 6 years old, "If I was a father, I would like to eat dinner at Moya's and get a root beer float."
Drew, 7 years old, "If I was a father I would want to go to a ranch, ride four wheelers, go fishing, hang out all day and drink beer."
Dr. Beeny!! My favorite FFG professor! I have no Father's day presents ideas for you, but I have been meaning to check out your blog so I thought I would drop a hello. I hope you reach your goal by May 1st..I know you will because it's MY birthday which means it's a lucky day. I'll be checking up on you ;)
No ideas for Father's Day, since I'm not a dad, but on the how to share baby news front, I can tell you what I/we did: for my hub, I drew a little thought bubble coming out of my belly button that said, "Hi, Daddy!" on it. For family, we got some of those print-your-own iron-on transfers and made personalized onesies for all of them. My in-laws got one that said, "Grandma and Grandpa think I'm cute. Try not to be jealous." And my brother, who loves to dance, got one that said, "I got all my moves from Uncle Joey." The great thing was that most of the family gave theirs back to us because they wanted to see our baby wearing it after the birth.
JB, I'm with you on the Moya's idea. Maybe I'll send my dad a giftcard to eat there. (hometown restaurant)
As for letting family know about a baby. We announced my daughter's immenent arrival at Christmas. I made a Christmas card with 3 ornaments. Two ornaments had pictures of my boys and the other had her sonogram picture. The card said Merry Christmas from the Schubert kids, with their names and a question mark (due June 20th). My daughter is 10 months old and my mom still has it on her refrigerator.
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