Tag: kids

Home Alone

SilentBenLeave a comment

It’s quiet.  Maybe eerily quiet.  I’m sitting here in silence at my laptop – my only noise accompaniment besides the clicking of the keys and the slow cadence of my own breath is the sound of the washing machine wooshing upstairs.  At this time of the night, that isn’t really that unusual – if my wife is still up, she will often also be sitting at her laptop typing away.  But tonight I type alone.

The reason for this is simple:  I AM alone.  From basement to attic, the current head count in my house is one (counting me).  This has been the population peak since Monday afternoon and will not likely be surpassed again until Saturday night.  Why, you ask?  My family has taken to the road. Read more “Home Alone”

Dancing in the Dark

SilentBenLeave a comment

Despite the images this title may conjure (whether you know who Bruce Springsteen is or not), I’m referring to how my family participated in the Earth Hour.  If you are not aware of what Earth Hour is, it is an environmental awareness initiative where anyone who interested in participating would turn off their lights and any non-essential electronics from 8:30 to 9:30 PM on Saturday local time (obviously this time-frame has passed here, but there may be areas where this hasn’t by the time this is read).  We made a slumber party out of it. Read more “Dancing in the Dark”

Back to Normal – OW!

SilentBenLeave a comment

The good news is that after 6 days, my wife is finally home from the hospital.  The lesion on her knee is shrinking and she is slowly regaining normal mobility.  The bad news is that I now have a small lesion on my arm.  I can’t exactly sit here and blame her – in hindsight I was likely the carrier to begin with.  I had already had a couple such lesions that I dealt with and moved on.  Maybe it is something that I inherited from my father, but it didn’t really occur to me to seek medical attention over the matter.  I was acutely aware of the wounds (they seemed like nasty boils) and I would monitor them, treat them as it seemed appropriate, and at times when I considered that I might need to actually see someone about it, I’d decide to wait another day to see if it got better.  And gradually it did. Read more “Back to Normal – OW!”

Mr. Mom

SilentBenLeave a comment

I apologize to those few readers I have for my sporadic and infrequent posting as of late.  For much of my recent absence, the issue has mostly been that I’ve been busy with work and too drained at the end of the day to sit and write something.  But for the past week I’ve had a more serious excuse for my lack of presence – My wife was checked into the hospital on Tuesday for a bad staph infection in her knee that turned out to be MRSA. Read more “Mr. Mom”

That’s It! I Know What We’re Going to Do Today!

SilentBen4 Comments

I must proselytize about a certain kids’ show – Phineas & Ferb.  As a parent of a pre-schooler and a toddler and as an owner of a television (and avid enthusiast), I find myself spending a decent amount of time watching shows with my children.  Of course I try to limit the quantity and so we aim for quality of entertainment in what we watch.  As a conscientious parent, I have to be aware of what they watch – I wouldn’t want my kids getting the wrong ideas or messages from television (like that sponges are really dish sponge-shaped and live in pineapples).  The downside of this process is the mind-numbing effect that some of these shows have on adults (I won’t name names, but one such show rhymes with Bora the Bexplorer).  So when a show comes along that is entertaining for all ages without crossing any questionable lines, it is like panning for gold and finding a full bar. Read more “That’s It! I Know What We’re Going to Do Today!”