Finally Grown Up

Since the passing of an icon, many people are writing about memories of Michael Jackson. I was a fan of Michael Jackson in the early years of his Thriller album. I was tuned into MTV to watch the premiere of his lengthy Thriller video. To this day, I think this the best music video ever made. Now in my 30's, I have to say I have not watched MTV in years.

At that time, Michael Jackson had a line of jackets. I so wanted one of these. I begged my parents to buy me one. I eventually owned one of these red jackets, complete with all of the zippers. I could not wait until I wore the jacket to school. A lot of my classmates told me that no one liked Michael Jackson at our school. I only wore the jacket a couple more times and never again because other students made fun of me.

Our family recently went to the Zoo. My middle daughter was excited to see Dorothy the Dinosaur. She was disappointed because she thought Dorothy was a real dinosaur. Dorothy is a character on the Wiggles and not real. What happenned to my daughter? She is growing up and too old for Dorothy. My oldest daughter was embarassed just being in the presence of Dorothy. At least the baby enjoyed it!

My middle child seems to get into the youngest's face too much, then the youngest gets upset by her older sister. I caught both of them playing nicely together. I hope this happens more often.

My job as a stay at home has become a little easier - or has it? My oldest daughter went on vacation with her grandparents to Shaver Lake and Oregon. She is also planning on staying with her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins for a while. This will make two daughters at home with me. My oldest daughter and middle child fight a lot, so I thought with her gone it would make things easier for me. WRONG!

I did not realize how much my oldest daughter does to help me at home. First, my daughter unloads the dishwasher, and she seems to enjoy unloading the dishes just as much as I do! I cannot seem to keep up with the dishes. It seems like I am loading and unloading every day. Second, my daughter sits on the floor with our one year year and plays with her while I try to get some housework done. I cannot let my middle child to do this because she seems to always make her mad. A funny thing about that is that she can make the baby laugh like no one else can.

I want my daughter to come home and help me. She is a big help. It is not easier with only two children home.

When my oldest daughter was a baby, I was a stay at home dad when she was 6-weeks old. I remember the fond memories of my daughter crying day and night. It is pretty sad that is pretty much all I remember during that the time...the crying. One time I called my mother-in-law at work to ask if she could help me with her crying granddaughter. I could not handle her crying any longer.

Nine years later and two more daughters, I am a stay at home dad again. My wife has been hired as full-time office worker at a local business. This time I have three daughters 9, 5, and almost 1. This time, my experience as a stay at home dad will be different. It has been a week so far and I am enjoying being home with my children. Let's see if the "I AM BORED", CAN I, or I AM HUNGRY drives me crazy like my oldest daughter's crying did nine years ago.

As you can tell by looking at my blog, I like basketball. I enjoy watching L.A Lakers and BYU basketball. I do not know how I came to like basketball because it sure did not come from growing up. My family did not like basketball or any other sport. I dad thinks all sports are rigged by betting and the team already is pick to win or lose before the game begins. I am trying to get my children to like basketball. In the past, they have watched with me but soon gets bored and leaves. I tried to get my oldest daughter signed up to play basketball but she says no. She says no to basketball but yes to soccer. She is currently signed up for ten weeks of indoor soccer at our local parks and recreation. I am still going to try to convince my children to play basketball but in the mean time and I will watch her play soccer.

Last week, I worked at the same school for two straight days. I saw many of the same students. My experience on both days can be described as night and day.

Class one was a math class. The students came in loudly and took a while to find their desks. They took even longer to get math books from under their desk. I tried to take attendance while yelling over the loud voices. I told the students their math assignment and it was clearly written on the whiteboard. Most students did not even crack open the book and continued to talk like it was social hour. I even had a student ask what he was supposed to do midway through the class period. This happened through the rest of the day.

Class two was a world history class. Students walked in the door talking with normal inside voices. They walked over to the cupboard and obtained a copy of their history book. A few students retrieved a second or third book for another student. Students looked at the whiteboard for their assignment, opened their books, and began their assignment. The bell rang and I took attendance. The class remained quiet for the whole class time. This type of behavior was in every class period of the day.

The teacher in class A obviously does not have control of her class. The students think that they can get away with anything. The students behaved very poorly with a substitute teacher. The teacher in class B has complete control of his class. The students behave the same way for a substitute as they do for their teacher. They know there will be punishment for any bad behavior.

Remember, there were many of the same students in both classes. The students behaved differently in both classes. This shows me that all students can behave themselves. The key to great students is that the students need to know what is expected of them and the teacher needs to stay strict to all rules and procedures to every student every day.

Lesson Learned!

My 6 month old daughter has a stuffed animal moose that she plays with all the time. The other day, Jane was holding the moose and dropped it. I do not know if she dropped it on accident or on purpose the first time. She looks on the floor and her sister picks it up and gives it back. She drops it on the floor again. This is when she starts laughing hysterically. She keeps dropping the moose and laughs louder each time. Soon, the whole family is laughing. No one can make her laugh like her big sister.

I feel like I am becoming an adult. In reality, I have been an adult for a long time. I have been married for almost 10 years and I have three beautiful daughters. The problem is that I have not started my career yet. Since high school, I've had many different jobs. These jobs include: McDonalds, dishwasher (4 hours), Imperial Electic, Stage Stop gas station, Steve Humphrey's Painting, Post Office, Kmart, Rosie Sweet Shoppe (family business), and Mojave and Tehachapi Unified School District as a substitute. None of these jobs is what I call a career.

These past few years while living in California, I have been going to college to find a job that I will enable to support my family. My first idea was an accountant but I did not see myself sitting behind a desk all day. My second idea was to become a X-Ray tech but was one course short to enter the program so I worked on my Business Management degree. The career that I have finally decided upon is an Elementary school teacher. I currently have a masters degree in education and I am a certified teacher. I am looking for a teaching position as a K-6 teacher.

AM I A GROWN-UP YET? No- I am not but I am getting close. I hope I do not ever become completely a grown up. What I want is to have a career to be able to support my young family. Being a elementary teacher will help grow up a bit but not too much.

Come along on my jouney as I become a grown up!