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Posts Tagged ‘summer’
3
Raising the Next Blackbeard
By Daddy Clay Monday, August 22nd, 2011
For two-thirds of my offspring, it’s the first day of school, which has me ready to write my “How I spent my summer vacation” essay. I had the great good fortune to be able to take another extended vacation with my family this year, as I have ever year since I got married. I’m a lucky bastard.
We go to Cape Cod and stay in the town of Chatham. Because we return to the same town, the same house (my in-laws’), the same beaches year after year, certain traditions and rituals have emerged. I can find pictures of the kids in the same spot, almost the same pose, from every year of their lives. Scrolling through those images is a fascinating way to watch them grow up before your eyes — almost time-lapse. Read the rest of this entry »
Dad’s Second Adolescence
By Daddy Clay Thursday, July 1st, 2010
It’s important for men to always have kids around to remind them they’re not one.
This is the lesson the Week of Solitude is trying to teach me.
The Week of Solitude is an annual rite in our house. Just because my wife’s cushy academic job affords her more vacation time and salary than mine, she gets to take the kids off for our annual trip back East while I stay behind and toil. I join them a week or so later. Read the rest of this entry »
Have Faith in Summer Camp?
By Daddy Clay Monday, June 21st, 2010
Does anybody else’s kids cry when they get picked up from camp? I’m glad that Bubba and Ri-ri had a good time for the last two weeks, but do they really need to seem so mournful about going home? I guess it’s understandable, given that the camp they attend has been working for 70 years to figure out how to make every minute of every day fun for kids. They already had it down pretty well when I was a camper there. My dad said it was pretty fun for him, too.
Despite the long faces, having the older two kids back was quite a Father’s Day present. The new stripy swim trunks are pretty good, too. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Deal with Homesickness and Sleep-away Camp
By Daddy Clay Monday, June 14th, 2010
June 9, 2010
Dear Ri-ri,
I can see from the photos posted on the camp website that you are having a ball with all the girls in your cabin, smiling and enjoying the many activities. Nevertheless, I think you should come home because I’m having a major identity crisis.
Your mother says “hi” and also that I should not impose my “personality issues” on an 8-year-old. You know mom and her opinions! Ha, ha. Read the rest of this entry »
