Soccer Practice begins

Soccer practice started a while ago for Asher. He has made the select team, so they started early and practice long. However, we now have Ella and Marley in soccer too, so we have practice all the time.

Tomorrow is opening day, so we should be at the field from sun-up to sun-down. Ella's pictures are at 8, game at 9, Marley's pictures at 11, game at 12, Asher practice at 9 and pictures at 2:30. Should be a sunny day.

It's all in the details.

Kitchen Home Stretch from Jason Sutter on Vimeo.

Seret ambitions

There are a number of secret ambitions we harbor deep in our hearts. Today Asher and I both get to scratch one off. We are leaving to Pinecrest. Every year we spend a week with my in-laws at a cabin by the lake. We have said for the last few years we would mohawk our hair for the vacation. Today we did. It will be funny to see the look and expression of my in-laws when we arrive. My wife was kind of surprised when we came downstairs. She decided she probably should have a tatoo to go with her son having a mohawk, but I think that is a bit over the top.

My only regret, if I wasn't starting a new job in 2 weeks, I would have liked to take the sides down to skin. But life is about compromise, isn't it?

Like Nowhere Else

We went to the beach for the second time this week. Tuesday we hit Dillon Beach, and today we went to Bolinas. I have been musing on two things. First, the fact that there are NO signs to indicate where Bolinas is staggers me. Apparently people in the town don't want visitors, so they tear down any signs that point the way off Highway 1. But the more important thing to me was the spell that comes over kids when they hit the beach. Both times, my kids were got so excited and energized to be at the beach. They were sweet and helpful to me and each other. They didn't complain about anything. And, most amazingly, they got along. They just found stuff to do together and actually enjoyed playing with each other. At Dillon Beach, Asher, Ella, and Marley dug sand crabs for 45 minutes. Then they ran the dunes together for another 30 minutes.

Thinking back to my childhood experiences at the beach, it makes sense. Now I am sure I don't remember all my trips to the beach, but I remember a lot of them. Trips to the beach that should seem inconsequential stick out in my mind. Getting up at 5:30 to gather shells with my babysitter. Getting buried by my cousins. Wrestling with my friends. Body boarding. Surfing (or trying to). Spying on the nudie beach. Even now, just focusing on it floods back more memories than it is reasonable to recall. I think I have come to the conclusion that there is something special about the beach. No duh. But more than that. Somehow it registers deep. Just musing. Alright, here is a picture of the kids.

New Adventures

It has been a busy 2+ months. I know this isn't the proper way to build a story, but I'll cut to the chase. As many of you know, I started working for the Petaluma School District as the principal at McNear Elementary. So the next question is "Why?" I have been planning on this kind of a transition for a while. I got my admin credential 4 years ago so I could move into a position as a principal. This will be a higher level of stress, responsibility, and workload, but it is a chance move forward on my career path. Although that is reason enough, the added budget issues in the state and the lack of a contract with my previous job also were strong influences. Every year except for 1 of the last 7 years I have been with CTAP, I received a pink slip in March. So this position should be much more stable.Still, the first one is my main reason.

McNear Elementary is a school of 411 students in Petaluma. It has a very involved community and a great campus. Our whole family is excited for this new adventure. This week, I intended to send out an email introduction to the parents on the McNear listserv. We decided to include a video as well. The amazing thing is that I told the kids a general idea of what they should do, and they ad-libbed the rest. So hats off to them for their creative endeavors. I'll let you know how the year moves along.

Finding Mr. Sutter from Jason Sutter on Vimeo.

Footsteps

I think the stereo-typical moment of fatherly bliss is the moment a son or daughter announces they want to take over the family business. I remember on parent job dress up day in 4th grade I wore jeans and a white knit button-front sweater. We were supposed to dress up like the job our parents had, and I looked like a 10 year old version of this guy. The other kids were in fireman suits, doctor scrubs, and every other high profile occupation you can imagine. When they asked me, "What are you?" I proudly answered, "I am an insurance salesman!"

So reflecting on all this parental joy, you can understand how touched I was when Asher comes to me and says, "Dad, I want my own webpage. How do I make one?" I think I almost cried. Well, not really, but it was still pretty cool. How indicative of our modern times that my 9-year old decides he is going to make a webpage. Fortunately for him, it is much easier now. I set him up with a blogger site under my account (so I can keep tabs). And he is writing up a storm compared to his usual writing.

If you get a chance, visit his site at http://ashersutter.blogspot.com and give him some props in the form of comments. Everytime he sees someone commented on his blog, he writes a little more. So egg him on; teach a kid to write.

So THAT's Why They Do It...

Stefanie is back in school. She currently spends every Friday in a classroom in Santa Rosa to get back into "nursing shape." So some Friday's Marlene comes to watch the kids, and some times I take off work.

Today I took off work. The kids are on Easter break, so we all got up around 8 and started the day. In the spirit of full disclosure I always have the Mr. Mom thing with Michael Keaton playing in my head when I am on for the whole day. Needless to say, I had an agenda. Dutch babies for breakfast. Friedman Brothers hardware to get the parts to hook up the bathroom sink. Back home for Kate's nap and painting. Off to Napa Home Depot in the afternoon (30 minutes each way) to get the parts Friedman Brothers didn't have.

As an aside, let me discuss our media policies because they do have relevance to my current thoughts. Stefanie and I are cautious about some media. Our kids are well versed on the computer and have a plentiful collection of DVDs. We have a PlayStation 2 and a Wii. However, we limit the amount of time they get in a given week on all these media. The girls watch maybe 2 hours worth of TV each week, if that. Asher mostly only plays video games--usually 2-3 hours on the weekend. So when Asher asked for a Game Boy years ago, we said, "Absolutely not." I had visions of fighting with him at the dinner table, at the breakfast table, when we were walking through the store, while visiting relatives at holidays, while... you get the picture. "Put that Game Boy down!"

So, back to today. As I made breakfast, Asher asked if Sean could come over. Sure. He was at our house 10 minutes later, joined us for breakfast, and headed to the hardware store with us. Everything went pretty well. At little rambunctiousness in the store, that is to be expected. We made it back home, put Kate down, and asked the kids to play outside after I fed them lunch. 2 hours later, Kate wakes up, and we set off for errand #2 -- Home Depot.

Without making the story much longer, I just about reached the end of my rope. In the store, in the car, or in the parking lot, these 5 kids were all over the place and all over each other. We finally make it to the car to start the 30 minute drive home, and I am thinking, "If there was only a way to tone them down a few notches." Then it hit me, what I need is a few Game Boys! So even though I always thought I wanted my kids to talk to me in the car instead of playing a pocket video game, I realized today that there is a good reason so many kids have one.