From the Mind of MandoRon

My 8-year-old daughter keeps wanting to text and send emails to different family members.

So I mentioned to my wife that maybe we should get Jada her own email account.  (Definitely no cell phone though…)  She thought it was a good idea, so I set one up for her and for my 6-year-old son who is just learning to read (and pitched a fit that he wasn’t getting one.)

Needless to say they were excited, and have sent several emails to grandpas, grandmas, aunts, and each other.  Even Jett typed an email that went something like this: “Do you love me? I like you. I love  you.”

It occurred to me that I had no idea at what age most kids get email addresses.   I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about it.

I think a few questions for you, the reader, are in order:

1. How old were your kids when they got their own email accounts?
2. Did you take any special safety precautions?
3. Any other thoughts on the subject?

Leave a comment, ’cause I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Since he was very small, Jett has shown some natural rhythm and is constantly building drum kits out of pots and pans.  He even makes his own kick drums by using a book and a plastic lego tub laying on it’s side.  When he steps on the book, it hits the plastic tub with a thump.  What has really impressed me, though, is the complex, syncopated rhythms that he comes up with.

We finally broken down and bought a junior-sized drum kit for his 6th birthday last month.  It’s got a snare, kick, 2 toms, hi-hat, and a crash/ride cymbal.  He’s been banging around on the kit trying different rhythms on different combinations of drums/cymbals.

The last few days, he’s been trying to incorporate 3 or 4 or more drums/cymbals into his rhythyms.

He’s very shy about it and stops playing when you walk in the room.  I covertly took this video last night.  You’ll notice that about 20 seconds in, he notices my phone and hides.

He starts lessons next week, and I keep reminding him that he will have to play in front of the teacher.

Like most young boys, my six-year old has developed a fascination with guns.  It occurred to me that it might be best if he understood how to safely handle a gun rather than guns being a complete mystery to him.  A while back, I told him that I would bring my .22 rifle when we went to my in-law’s farm at Christmas. 

I showed it to him for the first time a few days ago, and all he has talked about since then is guns.  He has told everyone he’s seen that he was going to shoot daddy’s gun at the farm.  It’s been pretty comical actually…  He’s been asking all kinds of questions about rifles, handguns, machine guns - even cannons!

So today we went out to the farm and shot up some cans and water bottles.  We went through about 25o rounds between my .22 semi-auto rifle, my brother-in-law’s .22 semi-auto pistol that he loaned me, my father-in-law’s .22 revolver, and his  .357 revolver.

I taught Jett to shoot the .22  rifle and pistol.  He had a blast and we had a great time bonding.  (I had fun too…)  At the end, he actually hit  some cans at about 40~50 feet!

Interestingly, I think Jett is the fifth-generation to shoot the .22 rifle.  My grandfather originally bought it for my  great-grandmother so she could shoot squirrels from her porch.  Apparently, she like to eat squirrel…  Now I’m not actually certain the my dad has shot it but I’m pretty sure that he had the opportunity when I was a kid.

I offered to teach Jada too, but she didn’t  want anything to do with the guns.  Maybe another day…

… a God of mercy, grace, and love.

… a beautiful, loving wife.

… two spunky kids.

… a loving family.

… my job.

… music.

… a new car with a working rear defroster.

… good friends.

… this Internet thingy…

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I thought I would share this afternoon’s handywork…

The cat was designed by Jada.  She even drew the outline on the pumpkin herself.