Graduation Dinner Photos

Here’s a photo of youngest son and me after his grad dinner, but before the sometimes boring and sometimes inappropriate speeches. The lack of decorum, by the way, was not on the part of the students or the parents, but by the principal and one of the teachers in their speeches. And in case you think it was just old fogey me who found some remarks shocking, my older children’s jaws dropped during some of the program.

 

The principal asked questions, intended to be humorous, about the future of some of the graduating students, and several of them crossed the line from funny to rude or humiliating, and at least one had sexual innuendo which was just disturbingly creepy when made by a fifty-year-old principal about an 18-year-old girl student.

 

In youngest son’s case, the supposedly funny question was about whether he would become a male stripper. I think the remark was meant to be a funny compliment about his athlete’s physique, but it embarrassed youngest son. Made by one of his friends or by his brother in a teasing way, he might have thought if funny; but hearing it from his principal in front of several hundred people, his family included, was a whole different matter.

 

I’m not sure most 17 and 18-year-olds are ready to endure public roasting type remarks anyway, even if they were all tastefully done. Sure they laugh it off—they have to, or they look like a poor sport—but do you think they enjoy it?

 

But it was fun to see youngest son all spiffied up and in a tux, and to see all the other students in their formal wear, too. Two of youngest son’s close friends gave a speech together that was short, funny, and superbly done, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that, either. So all was not lost.

 

 
Here’s a photo I took of all four kids together.

In Flux

Oldest daughter moves in today and youngest daughter moves out tomorrow, so things are very busy here. Oldest daughter lost her cat Wednesday night when someone broke into her apartment while she was at work, and then left access to the outside through a broken window. If the cat isn’t found by the time daughter has to leave for the airport this morning, it will have to be left behind. As you can imagine, this is causing her quite a bit of anxiety.

 

And I still have a lot of planting to do. 

Update on Friday, June 1, 2007 at 9:48AM by rebecca

Well, the cat came back just as oldest daughter was leaving her apartment for the airport! It would be difficult to overstate how relieved and happy she is.

Belated Yet Again

Yesterday was Youngest Daughter’s birthday, so I’m wishing her blog birthday greetings. True to form, they are belated greetings, although I was not so negligent in real life. Real life just got away from me yesterday, and the blog was neglected, but the girl wasn’t.

 

Here she is at four. She had just discovered the game of Candy Land. Every day, right after her nap, she would carefully set up her Candy Land game on the chest she’s sitting on in the photo. Then as soon as her father walked in the door after his day’s work, she would rope him into a game. How could he say no? If you’ve ever played Candy Land, though, you know how much he’d have preferred to do anything else.

 

Recently I had a conversation about coddled kids whose parents have never let them lose at anything, so they have skewed expectations for how things ought to go for them in life. In our house, teaching the child to lose at games was their father’s job. Here’s a little word of free advice to dads who want to follow his example: When you pick a game to use to teach your little one the skill of losing, choose checkers, or Chinese checkers, or Jenga, or pick-up sticks.  Never, ever, choose Candy Land.  At least if you want to keep your sanity.

 

So here are belated twenty-third birthday greeting to Youngest Daughter, the sweet little girl who drove her dad crazy with her Candy Land game.