SunFyre...words from a seated position

The New York Mets have dropped four in a row. I was just starting to get excited for them again, but it has been hard since last year's massive tumble.

I still think baseball is the greatest sport, but my one time undying love is now waning. I tried to get tickets to see the Yankees or the Mets during September, and was blown away by the ticket prices. Both teams are getting new stadiums this year. Because of that, many people are making the voyage to see them one more time in their original stadium.

Baseball used to be a sport where you could go at a moment's notice and still get tickets. Furthermore, you could get nosebleed seats for a couple of bucks and really good seats for $15. It used to be the only sport you could to which you could afford to take your family, and now that's even unrealistic more than a few times a year at best.

I still love baseball, but I'm leaning more toward the minor leagues. Minor league baseball is still a personal game. When I was a kid I always looked forward to the day when I would take my son to games. Thank goodness for farm teams, or it wouldn't be a realistic expectation today. The value you get for the price of a MLB ticket, food, parking and gas isn't there any longer.

Dad and I used to go to Pittsburgh and watch the Pirates play in Three Rivers Stadium. We didn't make a big event out of it. It was usually last-minute, even though Pittsburgh was a 2-hour drive. We never bought food, because hot dogs were only a dollar. Dad would get a beer, and I'd have a sip. We would sit for almost 3 hours in relative silence, but yet feel bonded. Sometimes we would wait around outside the stadium after the game and I would try to get autographs of the visiting team. The Pirates always took their personal cars home, but the visiting team came out together and got on a bus.

Over the years I got to meet Daryl Strawberry, Pete Rose and dozens of other players who had much less time in the spotlight. I collected baseball cards and knew most of the players by sight.

It's different now. Everything is more expensive, and the game is less personal. You even hear it in the announcer's voice. Players used to play for one team for their entire careers, and you were as much a fan of individuals as you were of your team.

I'm sad because even if I get to share a little baseball with my son, it will never be the same experience that I once had.

Labels: baseball, parenting, sports

"What should be done about the fact that American children lag behind kids in other countries in math and science?" is one of the questions posed in the July 7 issue of Time magazine, In their "10 Questions" feature they spoke with Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium. He is an astrophysicist and the host of a PBS show, Nova Science Now.

He said, "We need to do something about the stigma. Somehow it's okay for people to chuckle about not being good at math. Yet if I said I never learned to read, they'd say I was illiterate dolt."

This is so true. Being uneducated is acceptable in the US. While I am a big advocate of music, physical education, and art programs and believe them to be core to a well-rounded education, the reality is that we aren't even doing a stellar job teaching the basics... reading, math, and science.

Speak to people who are well spoken and seem intelligent. Invariably, they are readers. The more avid of a reader they are, the more they present themselves with intelligence.

Math and science are "fundamental to what is to be alive", as Mr. Tyson put it in the article. That is so true. Even very basic mathematics and science are critical to our function as human beings.

I live in a community that seems to think "real folks" aren't educated and therefore shouldn't bother trying.

I hope I'm raising my children better. I have a saying... "never been ashamed to be the smartest person in the room." Where I grew up, the kids who "ruined the curve" in science class were considered geeks or dorks. They should have been rock stars!

Rather than the cheerleaders wearing football or basketball jerseys to show that they were dating the athletes, they should have been wearing the Honor Society pins and saying "that's right, I'm dating a brainiac!" The jocks should have been wearing them too!

I hope the teachers and parents who are reading this will practice this mantra with me... Smart Is Cool.

Labels: education, parenting, science

A little after 8 a.m. this morning my sister, Jennifer, gave birth to Lucas DeGennaro. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, and he tipped the scales at 8 lbs. 15 oz. He was about a week overdue, and since Jennifer struggled with inducement during her first pregnancy, they did a planned C-section. She's recovering much more quickly this time around.

Tomorrow morning we are hopping in the car and heading to Atlantic City. They live in Galloway, New Jersey just outside of Atlantic City.

This is the third baby born in our family in the past seven weeks. Late in May a member of my web team, (and my second cousin) gave birth to her first, a little girl named Natalie. In June, my wife's sister had her first, and we welcomed Lauren Rebecca. Now in July, Lucas joined us.

My wife and I started trying to get pregnant about eight years ago. Our twins turned six in May. Since we began working on our little project, there's been a baby boom among our closest friends and family. Check out this unbelievable list.

• Jason, Ainsley -- our twins
• Brianna, Kaitlyn -- to Kristen's brother, Jonathan
• Lauren -- to my sister in law, Lori
• Vincent, Lucas -- to my sister, Jennifer
• Natalie -- to my cousin, and assistant, Kyley
• Zander, Lexi -- to my personal care attendant, Heather
• Abigail -- to my assistant, Michelle
• Lucy -- to my personal care attendant, another Heather
• Samuel, Gracie -- to my assistant, Jane
• Isaiah, Nathan, Maya,Lara -- to my wife's best friend, Rachel
• Sadie -- to her other best friend, Elizabeth
• Rylee -- to our nanny, Nicole
• Romelo,Victor -- to our nanny, Hollie
• Madison -- to our nanny, Lisa

The total comes to 22 babies in eight years, including three sets of twins. This doesn't include about a dozen babies born to cousins and other extended family. All of these people were employees, closest friends and immediate family.

At first, I thought something was in our water. But partway through, we moved and now use bottled water. Additionally, three of the babies were adopted.

I have another theory. It's me! I've spent significant time with all of these people. Either, my incredible manliness drives women crazy and they run home and take out their passion on their husbands and boyfriends, or, perhaps (but I think unlikely) they are so thankful that their husbands are not like me that they give them good love. Either way, I get the credit or blame!

I'm thinking of making a T-shirt for myself that simply says "Fertility God". Let's hear what you think. Post your comments below.

Labels: baby, fertility, parenting

Labels: parenting, videos

Clearly, here is some extraordinary advice for new parents, complete with diagrams. I'd wish it had this were my twins were born. It probably would've changed a lot of my parenting strategies.

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

Labels: Friday Funnies, humor, parenting

Last night my daughter's ballet class had a Halloween party. The whole family was invited to watch.

She's been trick-or-treating for three years now. The first year she was a princess. Last year she was a fairy. And this year... a fairy princess!

I knew princesses were popular, but I had no idea how popular. There are 17 girls in her ballet class. We had a Minnie Mouse, a pirate, a witch, and no kidding, 14 variations of the princess.

Each of the Disney princesses were represented at least once. We had a mermaid princess, a Snow Princess, and at least six fairy princesses. They went around the circle, each describing their costume.

A few seconds later the pirate explained that she was a pirate princess. Not to be outdone, the witch called herself an evil Princess. Poor Minnie Mouse looked like an outcast!

Labels: Halloween, parenting

Here's my weekly YouTube video blog. This week's topic is "Why you should give your kids lots of opportunities to create art." If you watch you'll also get to learn why I'm wearing that ridiculous hat.

Labels: art, Halloween, hats, parenting

Last night in Chicago a Boeing 737 slid off the runway at Midway Airport. No one on the plane was severely injured, but the plane came to rest in the middle of a busy suburban intersection. The plane collided with vehicles.

One vehicle contained six year old, Joshua Woods, of Leroy, Indiana and his family. His two younger brothers and his parents are all hospitalized with injuries.

I don't know their situation, but in my imagination it goes something like this...

... they'd been in the car all evening. The boys were getting noisy and the parents were getting agitated. They'd decided to drive to Chicago to spend the weekend Christmas shopping, but now were regretted that decision. Mom had begged for the trip. She relented when the forecast called for snow, but Dad said "I'm not afraid of driving in a little snow."

The younger boys were in carseats, but Joshua just had a lap belt, which he frequently escaped. He was sitting on the floor between the seats when they stopped at the light at 55th and Central.

Mom had gone from asking to coaxing to yelling, trying to get Joshua to sit in his seat. Finally, Dad grabs Joshua by the shirt and lifts him onto the back seat and gives that threatening Dad look. "Don't Move a Muscle!"

Both look forward just long enough to see an unbelievable site, a 737 skidding into the intersection. It crushes their SUV like an aluminum can.

Regardless of the real situation, the freak nature of it, they will both blame themselves for little things.

The younger boys will forget their brother in time, but Christmas will never have the same flavor as it does for other children. The parents will have a sad memory guaranteed to be rekindled at the same time every year.

I read the story last night around midnight, just hours after it happened. That kicked off my dreams. I have frequent nightmares of losing one of my children. I can't imagine losing a child, but losing one near Christmas would be even worse.

Labels: death, parenting

This clip was submitted by Lisa, and made me laugh out loud. Thanks, Lisa.

Labels: humor, parenting, weird news

We've been clearing out our house before the big move. Buying a new home is a very cleansing experience. Our rule of thumb became "if we haven't touched it in a year, we won't miss it if we don't move it." This only became a serious issue when Kristen tried to get rid of my old baseball cards.

Trash day arrived. Normally we have one large can and a small recycling bin. That weekend, trash and recycling was in two large piles. Together the piles were roughly the size of a compact car. Our house isn't that big, I can't believe one home could produce that much refuge.

Beyond the trash, we also have a section of our basement dedicated to yard sale inventory. (By the way, our yard sale is scheduled for April 2nd. Come by and purchase some high quality, ultra-rare uber-crap!)

That weekend inspired me to write the following article:

10 Tips to Improve Recycling without Turning into a Radical Flaming Environmentalist

By Jason Tweed

I strongly believe in recycling, reducing, and reusing. Here are 10 tips to improve your recycling, without turning into a radical flaming environmentalist. It's the easy, little things that everyone can do to make the world just a little better for my three-year-old twins. Keep your recycling bin full

Newspaper Recycling

If you read the newspaper daily, please recycle them. Newspapers account for huge landfill usage. Contrary to popular belief a newspaper (nor anything else) will not bio-degrade in a landfill. If for some reason you can't recycle your newspaper, throw it in your front yard. Newspaper will bio-degrade in only a couple days if ample water and oxygen are available.

Paper Recycling

Our township recycles newspapers, but not other paper. We put all junk mail and office paper recycling in with our newspapers.

Kids and Recycling

Babies are a horrible drain on the environment. Don't give birth if you don't have to. Disposable diapers are bad, but let's face it, only radical flaming environmentalists use cloth diapers. You can however purchase baby wipes in refill packaging rather than the plastic tubs. It reduces waste. Also, flush-able wipes are better if you actually flush them.

Plastic and Steel Recycling

Some communities still only recycle aluminum. They tell you to remove steel cans and plastic bottles. Throw all your steel cans in with the aluminum. They run magnets over the aluminum cans and pull the steel out anyhow. These companies are required to recycle the steel and plastic. Your steel and plastic will get recycled with the aluminum.

Recycle Jokes

If you hear a good joke, or even a mediocre joke, don't let it take up brain landfill. Tell it to someone. If you don't have any friends, submit it to Friday Funnies Recycling Program.

Composting

If you live in a rural community, take all food waste and toss it in a pile in your backyard. This compost pile will actually create high quality soil that can be used. Food doesn't decompose in a landfill nearly as effectively. There are lots of sites on the Internet that teach you how to compost easily and effectively. While a simple pile in your yard (away from the house) will work in some areas, you may want to build a compost bin or compost tumbler.

Recycle Money

Contribute to a favorite charity. Give it to your church. Give it to a guy who looks like he has less money than you. Finally, buy something... even silly stuff pays somebody's salary. Saving is good, but if you have discretionary income, don't be discretionary about spending it. It helps the economy, which will do as much for our children as having a clean planet.

Have a Yard Sale

Take the crappy stuff you normally throw away and drop it in a large cardboard box in your basement. Every spring take the box, along with everything else in your house, into the front yard. Mark prices on it and sell it between 7 a.m. and noon. Use the money you earned to buy yourself a nice lunch. Then, here's the key, everything that doesn't sell, leave it beside the curb. Write FREE on the big cardboard box. It's amazing, stuff people won't pay a quarter for something, but will steal it during the night. By morning everything should be gone. Anything left is truly trash, so leave it out for the sanitation engineers. Lastly, recycle the big cardboard box.

Computer Recycling

A new trend in trash has evolved over the past few years. No one used to throw away computers, they'd simply give them to less fortunate relatives who were computerless. But now, all your relatives who want one already have one, and you have three old computers. Don't throw them in a landfill (especially monitors) because they have lots of bad stuff in them. Instead, call a local computer repair shop and ask them how to dispose of a computer properly. If they have a good answer, offer to drop your old computers at the shop and they can reuse and recycle them for you.

Finally, recycle hugs

The latest medical evidence has proven that your heart can actually explode inside your chest if you receive too many hugs and don't get rid of them. If you feel your heart expanding, give hugs immediately. Give them to children, because they have very small hearts, and can handle the pressure. If you feel your heart shrinking, you may have given away too many. Try asking someone with a large heart to recycle some of their hugs.

Labels: environment, Family values, Friday Funnies, humor, parenting, recycling