February 7, 2013 · 12:51 am

Savoring Time

richmond2

Serving at 17

Over the Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday weekend, I took my 17 year old daughter to Richmond, Virginia for her first major tournament of this year’s club volleyball season.  Thousands of girls from elementary school 12 & unders through college-bound 18 year olds compete every year over 3-day holiday weekends from January through May.  This is nothing new for our family:  some combination of us has accompanied at least one of our daughters to these travel tournaments for the past 7 years.  (Our now 14 year old played club volleyball for 3 years before deciding to focus on swimming.)

But this year is different.

Most girls do not come back to play for their club teams as 18 & unders during their senior year of high school.  Clubs that routinely run 3-6 teams of 15, 16, and 17 year olds often run only 1 or 2 teams of 18s because many girls who are not planning to play for their colleges close out their club careers in 11th grade.  Why?  The biggest reason is that the club season is difficult to balance with senior year commitments and events, and the tournament schedule runs right up to, or even beyond, graduation.

hitting at psu

Flying at 15

My own daughter loves volleyball above any other sport or activity she has ever tried.   But she has also thrived in 3 years of high school drama courses, and she has never been able to go out for one of her school’s shows.  After her high school volleyball season ends next November, she plans to focus on drama (along, of course, with school, college applications & decisions, and being a senior) for the rest of the year without the commitment of 3 volleyball practices per week, local single-day tournaments every 2-3 weeks, and 4-6 multi-day tournaments requiring overnight travel.  So she is 95% sure this is her final year of club and right now she is comfortable with the feeling that it is time to walk away.

digpink

Looking young at 14–3 quick years ago.

As I watched her matches in Richmond, I thought about how much her volleyball career has meant to my daughter…and to me.  As a former high school volleyball coach, I was fortunate to be able to coach her teams for her first few years of club.  And now, long after I sent my favorite player on to play for other coaches, I still regularly remind her that I will always be her biggest fan…and critic.  But these days I (usually) wait for her to ask for my feedback or instruction.  We both understand that they aren’t our matches anymore–they are hers.

So I savored this year’s January tournament, and I thought about how we are headed into a season of likely ‘lasts.’  Good times, challenges, and even disappointments have added up to a great ride for both of us since she was 10.  It’s true that I am very much aware that there are far fewer of these days ahead than behind.  But even though it is almost time to turn the page, we’re not quite there yet.

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January 13, 2013 · 11:46 pm

Family Movie Night

Like many families, one of our favorite activities is a weekend movie night at home.  With 2 adults, 2 teens, and a 9 year old in the audience, finding a film to make everyone happy can be the biggest challenge; but it is worth the effort.

To get started, I like to throw out the food pyramid and indulge in a fun but don’t-try-this-on-a-regular-basis menu, brought to you by the freezer section at Costco.  Crowd favorites include pot stickers, fried wontons, mini-bagel pizzas, mozzarella sticks, and appetizer quiches….maybe even some popcorn.

That takes care of dinner, but what about the show?  Over the years we have enjoyed many easily predicted winners, such as Home Alone, the Harry Potter series, How To Train Your Dragon, Looney Tunes collections, and several Marvel super hero blockbusters.  But we have also stumbled across some that went from “never heard of it” or “not sure what that is” to “that was a lot of fun.”  Here are two:

Unaccompanied Minors–Did this  movie ever have a run in theatres?  I had never heard of it–but we had fun.  A group of high school kids from different backgrounds wind up stranded in an airport during a blizzard.  “Aquaman, men are made, not born.”–Words to live by.  Fair warning:  Some lightly crude humor, but rated PG.

Hoodwinked Too:  Hood vs. Evil–This DVD clicked for us even though we had no idea that the ‘Too’ in the title actually meant ‘sequel.’  Not a problem.  As our story begins, we find that Little Red Riding Hood is a combination secret agent/ninja.  What’s not to love?  There is plenty of play on words to keep the adults on board, such as the Big Bad Wolf’s notsalgia:  “I went through my bad boy phase. Rode a bike, greased my hair back, lived over Richie Cunningham’s garage, water skied over a shark tank. Those were some Happy Days.”  Word to the wise:  Do not leave the room whenever the singing goat turns up.

Neither of these movies is lined up for the next AFI 100, but there is fun to be had in movies that did not win awards, make a fortune, and spawn a string of sequels and a TV cartoon series.

Speaking of the AFI 100, there are times when our “family movie night” shrinks from an audience of 5 to an audience of 3 or 4, and that’s ok.  As an example, introducing our older kids to Schindler’s List had to happen on a summer night after their little brother had gone to bed.  His time will come for some of the more ‘grown up’ films…To Kill A Mockingbird, The Sixth Sense and Alien, but there is no rush.movie

Of course, if a ‘thumbs up’ is going to mean anything, there also have to be some thumbs pointing down.  4 out of 5 family members surveyed found Nim’s Island to be a ‘we probably don’t need to watch that again.’  (One maternal unit strongly disagrees with this rating.)  Home Alone 3?  Not a favorite.

Family movie night is as much a part of our “family literacy” as vacation and holiday experiences. We pepper one another–sometimes insufferably–with funny quotes that seem to fit a moment.  A simple phrase, such as “You are one lucky bug” from Mulan or “Why did it have to be snakes?” from Raiders of the Lost Ark makes a connection.  And that’s what family movie night is all about, Charlie Brown (There’s another one…).

Note:  DadKnowsBetter did not receive any compensation of any kind related to this post.  All opinions are my own….including the lukewarm-at-best rating for Nim’s Island.

 

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December 22, 2012 · 11:54 pm

Happy Birthday, DadKnowsBetter

cakeThis past week marked the first anniversary of my blog’s launch.  Writing posts, responding to comments & emails now and then, and swapping thoughts through Twitter have made DadKnowsBetter a bigger experience than I expected.  So what have I learned since writing that first post capturing a few things I Believe?

1.  I cannot always predict which posts will resonate and take on something of a life of their own and which will sit there quietly….waiting for someone to stop by for a read.  For example, a post that has drawn some of the most interesting responses is  Timing, Tragedy, and Dump Trucks.  Yup, dump trucks.

2.  I have learned that I would rather leave an extra few days….or even an extra week….between posts than throw together something written poorly.  So that is the path I have taken.  Looking ahead, instead of rushing, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to set aside specific, regular blocks of time for writing new posts.

3.  Content tends to present itself, and a good topic is the most important step in writing a post.  As I have often counseled young teachers over the years, if the teacher (or, in this case, the writer) is not invested in the content, it is next to impossible for him/her to make it interesting to students (or readers).   F. Scott Fitzgerald sorted this out years ago: “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

4.  Writing my own page has led me to visit people’s pages, and there are plenty of interesting, well-written blogs out there if you’re willing to look.

So here’s to a great first  year and to seeing where this all goes in 2013.  Thanks for visiting.

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