Sunday, March 13, 2011

Social Studies Lesson - Town Meeting

The recap of Town Meeting was a healthy lesson in civics for the boys. They asked some very insightful questions about the process and what goes on. I definitely want the boys to understand how government works. It is important to be part of the process. I do tell them that those that don't exercise their rights, to vote, to particpate, even to run for office, have no right to complain when things go against them.
The boys and I had a good talk about certain articles, the new schools, the new police department, and the fire house renovations. We talked about how the debate process works. We had a discussion about taxes, spending, and deficits. We talked about voting and how articles pass. This was the whole point. Yes, I wanted to participate in the process. Yes, I had views on how to spend the town's money. But I really wanted the boys to talk about what was going on. Misson accomplished.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

School Daze

I figured I should go to Town Meeting and set a good example for my boys. It was even more important since there was an Article for designing & building new co-located middle and high schools. It is about time. Both DMS and DHS are old and in need of major repairs. While the Article comes with a huge price tag, the schools are needed. I don't really relish an increase to my taxes, but I am willing to pay the freight. One needs to keep in mind that Coco will be a slim shot of ever seeing one of these new schools.
I have never seen a group of adults behave so poorly at a government function. The pro-Article crowd certainly alienated older, would be voters. The Article carried the day, but I wonder what will happen at the polls now. I can see the rally at the Senior Center now - "defeat those raucous hippies!" It would almost serve them right. Most of them came for that Article on. Some of us had been there all day. One can choose to practice democracy how ever one sees fit but I think some folks are in for a rude awakening. I hope it does not come at a price paid by the students of this town.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Happy Birthday Lex

Happy Birthday little brother. I hope you are enjoying the day. It's hard to believe my little brother is also a father. Little Daisy is adorable. She is so active. Her talking is increasing so much. Even before words her expressions left no doubt as to how she was feeling. I bet she has a Daddy birthday card waiting for you when you get home. Enjoy it. She will be a school age little child before you know it. The cards with the crayons and scribbles are very memorable. Tuck it away somewhere. Years from now, you will come across it and smile.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Marching On

I hope as we hit March here that we are truly moving into Spring. We can finally see large patches of bare ground. The snow is melting at a decent pace, not causing too much flooding. The boys can actually get out and run around. That is he key thing, outside physical activity. A forum for them to vent their pent up energy. We don't quite have cabin fever but it may be closely approaching. I don't think shoveling and sledding quite cut it as outdoor time. Not all fun time anyway. I realized that we haven't had that classic family snowball fight this year. Every year, at some point, we all end up outside, sneaking up on each other and looking for that opportune time to launch a snowball at some unsuspecting family member. Inevitably, the rest of the family joins in and there is a barrage of flying, frozen orbs. It always brings laughs. It is the type of moment that some families create all too infrequently. I don't want to suggest that we are not spontaneous. We don't plan out these moments. But we do look to create environments where moments like that are more likely to happen. We didn't plan to play hide and seek in Del Ray. It just happened. But that may have been one of the highlights of our trip. We didn't plan to play an outrageous game of Scattergories on the Islands with the in laws, but there was so much laughter, we caused a ruckus with the neighbors.