Is Back to School Night Important?

Back to School

The parents walk into their child's kindergarten classroom on "Back to School" night, flush with enthusiasm to learn about the exciting experiences their daughter has been having so far in class and the journeys she will be embarking upon the rest of the year. They are eager to learn how the classroom is run, what curriculum the teacher will be using, and any way they can help as they collaborate with the teacher throughout the year.

Husband and wife gladly jot their names on the sign in roster, grabbing the small packet the teacher has thoughtfully prepared beforehand. They navigate their way around small tables, full to bursting with anticipation to see the "ME" book their daughter diligently prepared for them in class and judiciously briefed them on before they departed for the school.

My Piece Wins an Award!

My writing piece that is, not my handgun.

And not my...well...anyway...moving on...

The "inventor of Geeky-Sexy" over at Velvet Verbosity runs a weekly contest where eager wordsmiths write a flash piece of a hundred words inspired by a one word prompt that she supplies.

One Hundred Word Challenge - Greater

The prompt for this week's flash fiction over at Velvet Verbosity is greater. The task was to write one hundred words inspired by that word. Here's my go...

A Choice

He stands at the edge of the cliff, the exposed toes of his bare feet hanging out over the edge.

Father Friday 7 - Best of the Week from Blogging Parents

Graphic by Chris @ Daddy Doctrines



September.

Derived from the Latin septum, meaning seven. So named for the seventh month in the Roman calendar, set into place around the time Julius Caesar ruled the Roman Empire long before that "unfortunate" team meeting on the Ides of March.

I love the month...and I hate the month.

And What Happens Then - Chapter Eight, Also By Me.



Last week over at And What Happens Then I left Lillian in a limo kneeling in a pool of her lover's blood (yeah...sorry if you are reading this while eating or something) neck deep in a "pickle" as my great grandmother used to put it.

Father Friday 6 - Best of the Week From Blogging Parents

Happy Friday!

What a week!

The Father 100 - Episode 4

Graphic by Chris @ Daddy Doctrines

Happy one month birthday, Father 100! 

Since starting this project a month ago, I am already impressed with the great writing we have been able to gather together from many awesome blogging moms and dads, husbands and wives, dudes and dudettes.

And What Happens Then - My Chapter

And What Happens Then is a collaborative blog project I am fortunate enough to be a part of. Started by the prodigious Tara from If Mom Says OK, it is an experiment in collaborative writing with some extremely funky cool blogging peeps.

My contribution, chapter seven, went live today. Go check it out. I do not know what it says about me that my chapter is by far the most violent. While you are there, catch up on the rest of the story. I am also putting the finishing touches on chapter eight which will go live next week.

I hope you enjoy!

The Courier - Chapter Seven

The Father 100 - Episode 3 Winner - Exhausdad!

Lot of fun posts this week. Lots of dads who clearly love to laugh, with their children and with their spouses.

Father Friday 5 - Best of the Week From Blogging Parents

Graphic by Chris @ Daddy Doctrines

Good day...and welcome to episode 5 of Father Friday!

With last week being a major holiday weekend, I was of the opinion that we would only get a handful of posts but we got seventeen which for Labor Day Weekend is, I think, pretty great!

The Peanut Takes on the Lord of the Rings

This past weekend The Peanut, who is almost six, decided she wanted to watch The Lord of the Rings. I have a Gollum cut out in my classroom who warns my students to always write their homework down, lest they be transformed into Gollum and share his fate. She has always liked it and Friday night asked if she could watch the movies.

The Father 100 - Episode 3

Graphic by Chris @ Daddy Doctrines

Good evenin out there all you unbelievably amazing writers who also happen to be moms and dads. Worked off your labor day hangovers yet?

Well I have and I am ready for another round of posts of blogging awesomeness that we have come to know as The Father 100.

Last weeks word, forgiveness, got me many @mentions and direct messages inquiring about my sanity for choosing such a heavy and emotionally charged prompt. It was a tough one alright. I struggled for days with my own piece but I am glad we did it. If you haven't read the entries for forgiveness go here and read them now, powerful and well written stuff resides therein.

In the spirit of fairness, I offer up a much lighter, less gut wrenching prompt for this week. For the benefit of @TheDaddyYoDude I ALMOST went with the word turd...but I chickened out. So, without any further delay, I offer this week's Father 100 prompt and the rules.

The rules are simple. I will give you a word. Yes, that's right a word. As in one. Single. The cheese stands alone...you get the point.

You will have between now and midnight (EST) on Saturday to write a one hundred word post inspired by that word. Entries can be less than one hundred words, but they cannot be more. Posts must focus on some aspect of marriage or parenting. Even though I call this the Father 100, moms are encouraged to join us!

Ninety words? Cool.

Ninety-eight? Awesome.

One hundred two? Sorry chief.

One hundred words (or less).

Write your post on your blog and then add your link to the linky tools below, just like for Father Friday.

Sometime over the course of the weekend I will read all the entries. Then I will pick the entry that I feel best does justice to the spirit of the given word. Some weeks I will have a guest do the judging so I can play as well.

This exercise is strictly for fun and also for good writing practice. As of this time no prizes will be offered. Should I win the lottery or score a successful reality series (Real Dads of Delaware...can you see it?) that may change, but for now the chosen author will have to content himself with the prideful swell of a job well done.

I think this can be a lot of fun. Who is in?

This week's word is...

LAUGHTER

(Am I FORGIVEN now??)

100 Words on Forgiveness

Image borrowed from voiceofvision.blogspot.com

They are easily three of the most amazing words to hear and, simultaneously, three of the most difficult words to utter.

I forgive you.

To hear them said to you is the damp cloth brought to the cracked lips of a man lost for days in the desert.

To say them to another is almost god-like in its power to restore to life a relationship that was dead or dying.

And yet, knowing this to be true, why do I often times find them so difficult to utter?

Why do I withhold?

To my shame, I know not...


This is my entry for The Father 100 from the prompt word forgiveness.

The Father 100 - Episode 2 Winner

When I posted this weeks prompt, forgiveness, on Twitter on Tuesday night I got several messages sent my way almost immediately about the difficulty of the chosen word.

Make no mistake about it, I think the act of forgiveness is one of the most human, and one of the most difficult, acts that one human being can extend to another (or to himself for that matter). In my own experience, as well as the collective experience of our eight contributors this week, forgiveness is not easy and it is an act of sheer will. 

Thank you to all who took this difficult bull by the horns. All the entries are excellent. Choosing one is no easier this week then it was last week.

Here is the excellent entry by @DadStreet from his blog of the same name.

You engage.
They connect.
You expose yourself.
They rip out your insides.
Pain. Fear. Anger. Sorrow.
Heavy.
You carry the baggage of resentment.
You’ve become a slave.  A slave to your own emotions.
Freedom. Freedom is lost.
But freedom is also . . . attainable.
Attainable through a gift.
A gift you give yourself.
Give yourself the gift. The gift of forgiveness.
Make sure your children know freedom.
Make sure they know forgiveness.

The image of being a slave to my own emotions and of forgiveness being the hammer that breaks those chains truly resonates with me. Well done Dad Street! Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

Go check out his fantastic blog Dad Street. It is well worth the time and the read, as are the blogs of our seven other contributors.

Thanks for turning in to this week's edition of The Father 100. Please join us next Wednesday when we do it all over again with a new word.

And I promise not to make it as challenging or intimidating as forgiveness!

(Can you forgive me?!?)

Feed Your Inner Grammar Nerd - The Apostrophe Song!

Found this fantastic song over at one of my favorite writing themes sites, Inkygirl.com.

Enjoy!

Father Friday 4 - Best of the Week from Blogger Parents

Graphic by Chris @ Daddy Doctrines

Father Friday is a month old. Big thanks to all the awesome writers who have turned this into more than I had hoped for at its creation.

Last week we had 26 participants, 26 awesome posts.

Let's see if we can beat thirty this week. Show us your best, blogging moms and dads!

The rules...

1. You need to be a father. New father, old father, soon to be father, want some day to be a father, father...doesn't matter. You just need to be a dad. (Or a really awesome mom!)

2. You must own and maintain your own blog.

3. If you meet the requirements for rules one and two, look back over your posts from the past week, from Friday to Friday. Re-read them all.

4. Choose the post you feel was your particular BEST for the week. It can be funny, helpful, sad, dramatic, deep, light...whatever. Pick the post that most reflects you and what your awesome blog has to offer.

5. Follow the host. That's me. It's quick and painless and I always follow back. (This part is optional, but oh so appreciated!)

6. Put your blog address and a short description of the post in the Linky link located below. Be short but concise. (You know...like twitter!)

7. After you are on the list, surf the posts of the other dads and follow as many as you can. Read and above all else COMMENT! We all know that comments are to bloggers what a keg of Dear Park water is to a desert nomad.

8. Grab the code below, create a new post on your blog, and enter it so you can share the growing list with all your followers. Then just sit back and let it grow!

Don't forget to share the link to this post. Via Twitter, Email, IM, or carrier pigeon. The more moms and dad we can get to link up, the more we can influence our corner of the web with good, positive, humorous parenting.

Student Quote of the Day - Don't Ask Silly Questions

There are many things I love about being a teacher. In the interest of full disclosure, there are also some things about being a teacher that make me want to take up drinking as a full time hobby, but the good things FAR outweigh the bad.

One of the things I enjoy the most about my chosen profession is that I am surrounded by children. We all know, as Bill Cosby says, that kids say the darndest things. I have access to a daily comedy show all around me and I feel guilty, being the only one who gets to enjoy it. So I have decided to bring it to the Chalkboard.

No names of course, just the quotes, the nuggets of comedy that my kids toss out all the time, sometimes on purpose, like here, and other times completely unaware of how funny they are. Like today's quote.

The kids were working on a project today where they create an acrostic using the letters in their first name. One of my students needed a marker so he asked his neighbor.

His neighbor complied and tossed him a double sided Sharpie, with a wide tip at one end and a fine tip at the other. My student regarded the pen with a quizzical  look, uncapping both sides of the pen. He looked up.

"Hey," he said, tapping his classmate with one of the caps, "why does this pen have two sides?"

His classmate gave him the kind of look reserved for the terminally confused.

I love the reply...

"Because...it's awesome!"