Our Sons are Street Toughs

We’ve got a great park within walking distance of our house that the boys go to frequently. With Rose, me, Chief, anyone willing to take them. So it wasn’t out of the ordinary when, one night this week, I got home and asked the boys how the park was that day. This is the reply I got from my younger son:

“We smashed a kid!”

Wait. WHAT?

“Yeah!”

Rose and I were totally confused. Had Chief brokered their initiation into a local street gang? Had they been violent all along and we hadn’t noticed? WHAT THE HELL DOES “WE SMASHED A KID MEAN?!”

So Vincent explained that he had his bike and was riding around in the vicinity of some older kids. They were playing with him and must’ve been messing with a friend of theirs sitting outside the group and told Vincent, the impressionable 4-year old, to run over him with his bike.

“So I did.”

At this point, we had no idea what happened and asked where Chief was. We were assured he was, “right there,” which meant it couldn’t have been that big of a deal. We were also assured that the kid didn’t cry. We proceeded to gently tell Vincent that he shouldn’t ever smash any kids with his bike, no matter who tells him. We also vowed to each other to find out the whole story as this surely is painting Chief – who’s great with the boys - in the wrong light.

We'll get back to you on this one, friends.

Smarts

Vincent imparting some wisdom on his brother:

"Peter, some people are smart. Some people are not smart.

We're smart."

Hmmm...No idea where that came from. Maybe it's his new graduate status that has him all highfalutin.

The Nest

Great shot of a bird's nest we found in one of the trees in our yard. We tried our best not to disturb it but keeping Vincent away from something this interesting proved to be difficult. He wanted to show everyone. Now these eggs are famous - as far as this blog goes. So, they're known by about 18 people.

Team Summer, Pt. 1

We've been breaking in the new wheels lately, extending our reach all over the place in search of Fairly Cheap Fun (FCF). I'll be detailing our adventures here for all to see. The first of which was a trip to the Please Touch Museum in Philly with Auntie Kate and Grampa. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and it's completely different. Beautiful building, intuitively fun things for the kids to do, and really good, inexpensive food. Not much more can be said.We touched the hell outta that place.

The "Graduate"

Our big man "graduated" from his first preschool this past week. I use quotation marks around the word graduated because he's not officially graduating. He's just moving on to another school. A lot of his friends, who are a year older, are graduating, so we figured it was a good time to transition him to his new school, where he'll be for his third year of preschool, kindergarten and eventually elementary school.

So they were nice enough to let him walk with his friends. And man did he eat it up. He executed each of the songs perfectly - paying full attention to the teachers and not once being distracted by his parents, Nan, Mom-Mom, Grampa or his kid brother.

All in all, it kind of made my heart hurt a bunch. In a good way.

"Congratulations" big boy.

Rad

The newest member of the Exton BMX gang.

Status Report

I’m guessing most of you live in a world where you’re constantly being asked for status reports. “Just give me the topline,” as they say. To that end, because things are happening at such a rapid-fire pace around here, I’ve prepared the following status report for my fine readership. This should give you what you need to move forward. I’ve also taken the liberty of writing it in the business-like manner many of us are used to – for easier reading.

Vincent
Vincent is preparing to complete his two years of coursework at his first educational institution. Although a third year of preschool remains, he’ll be switching schools in the fall to further acclimate himself with his new team. The transition is expected to be seamless.

Recently, Vincent was the recipient of a generous transportation donation. Mom-Mom Corp, a division of Mommom and Grampa Inc., released the dollars to fund a new two-wheeler bicycle with training wheels that Vincent has quickly grown accustomed to. We’ve mapped out routes to the park using said vehicle and excitement is building considerably toward its daily usage.

Lastly, Vincent has discovered an archive in our technology department. Years back, before the big office move and during a period where our player was non-existent, Chachi Milk elected to shut down our VHS facility. We’ve since had the IT department work on restoring functionality allowing Vincent to view feature films he’d previously not seen (i.e. Pete’s Dragon, Lady & the Tramp).

Excitement levels for these projects are high.

Peter
Peter’s communication has been exemplary. His direction is clear and his follow-through is solid. If he says he’s going to eat peanut butter crackers, he takes the initiative to get them himself from the supply, select several and consume them. He’s a self-starter.

Research has been a key component of Peter’s growth. His reliance on books about colors, foods and trucks has driven his insight on these topics and his determination to return often is to be commended. We’ve recently extended our collection east to the Chester County Library System to leverage learning opportunities.

Peter’s waste management has also been a key discovery. He’s been efficiently communicating when waste is due to be released and will take direction to the facilities for proper dissemination. He’s even realized the value that privacy can bring to this process, thus allowing a faster learning curve. This achievement is considerable and his supervisor has recommended a promotion to training pants.

I’ve reviewed his performance and agree with the recommendation.

Conclusion
Please allow this report to give you the most up-to-date information on our current situation. Please respond with questions or concerns.

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