Christmas 2013

2013: This Message brought to you by the Lesser Half

Every Sunday morning, mid-way through Church services, Charlie, our youngest, will look at me and ask “Can we leave early?” He always asks me, because he knows there is a reasonable chance that I just might say yes. If he were to ask his mother, the answer is always a firm “no.” So, he only asks when he and I are attending mass together, which is pretty frequent given our hectic family schedule.

Well, one Sunday not too long ago, we were all attending mass as a family. Charlie leaned over and asks that familiar question. I said what any responsible father would say: “Go ask your mother.” Well, he did and the response was predictable. With a look of disappointment, he leaned back over, pointed at his mother and said: “But dad, you have a vote. You are one-half of this relationship.” I quickly fire back “yes son, but I am the lesser half.” After thinking about it a moment, he looked back at me and said “Yea… You are the lesser half.”

I consider this Charlie’s Animal Farm moment: the recognition that in our egalitarian world, all may be equal, but some are more equal than others. Now, to the family update…

Margaret, our oldest, is now seventeen and is a junior in High School. This year, she changed schools and attends a charter school in Lewisville called iSchool High STEM Academy. She is very happy there and that gives us comfort. Though this school does not have many extracurricular activities, she has found outlets outside the school system. She is now in the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas and has also started taking piano lessons. She is actually pretty good at piano, especially for someone who started so late in life. She is also gearing up to work on her Girl Scout Gold award this summer. College is also not so far off, so the PSAT, SAT, and ACT are part of our lives.

Our middle child, Cal, is fourteen years old and in eighth grade. Unfortunately, the litany of injuries continues. This year was dominated by foot, ankle, and knee injuries. We are slowly but surely working through those issues. Outside of that, school has gone well. He attends Grapevine Middle School and he excels at science and math. He is a smart kid and in many ways reminds me of my older brother Kevin. He has started taking guitar lessons and just got his first electric guitar. Oh joy of joys.

Charlie, our youngest, is now a ten year old in fifth grade at Dove Elementary. He is still in the talented and gifted program. His most exciting news is that he tried out and is now a member of the Dove Dynamic Drummers. They are a team of 36 kids that travel around performing synchronized drum routines using drumsticks, tables, and other props. All 3 kids had tried out for this while at Dove Elementary and Charlie was the only one to make the team. So, he is very proud of that. Other than that, he is busy running around and having fun with friends.

Laura now works three days a week at the Saint Francis preschool program. On the volunteer side, she is the fifth grade coordinator at Dove Elementary School for Charlie’s final year. She continues to write her blog which you can check out at: www.greenforgod.blogspot.com. With kids at three different schools and a host of extracurricular activities, she (and I) drive a lot and do not have time for much else.

As for me, not much has changed. I still work for a company that manufactures industrial robots for manufacturing. They are based in California and I have worked from home for the last 7 years. This summer, I took the whole family to California while I worked out of the corporate headquarters. It was not exactly a vacation, but it definitely was a big experience. Everyone had lots of fun. I am still taking karate and by the time you read this, I should be a brown belt.

We hope all of you have a peaceful holiday season.             

Cyle, Laura, Margaret, Cal, Charlie and Mickey (the dog)